Burning Bright
by Ninde158
Summary: When Konoha is invaded by a new enemy with a deadly new weapon Ino must come to terms with her feelings for Shikamaru and his possible relationship with a certain sand nin. When your heart, home, and family are all on the line, what's a girl to do?
1. Prelude to Destruction

_Author's notes: Here we are at the start of my first multi-chaptered fic. Reader response is really important to me so please review or message me and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I may be ever-hopeful, but it's still not mine._

**Prelude to Destruction**

"_Tell me your secrets, ask me your questions, oh lets go back to the start." –The Scientist by Cold Play_

Konoha village, late summer. In the town that harbored both elite ninja and regular citizens a certain sense of peace had fallen. This was a rare occurrence for an area so often embroiled in conflict and, in recognition of the brief respite, people thronged the streets, enjoying the beautiful weather.

It seemed as if even the weather sensed the change in mood and allowed the sun to pour itself onto the buildings and people in a grand show of warmth. It was impossible to find fault with such a day and many passerby said exactly this to one another when they met.

Unfortunately, as is too often the case, dark storm clouds were already gathering not far away, as yet undetectable, but there nonetheless. A veritable eruption of trouble was approaching Konoha at this very moment, but for now the city remained blissfully ignorant of the fact.

It would only be later, after the fact, that many would question just what they could have done to avoid what was about to happen. The ultimate conclusion was, of course, nothing, for who can predict the unpredictable?

It is always a mistake to over-analyze past events because, in the end, they are just that: past. No amount of complaining, moaning or mourning will change them. It's simply impossible. Inevitably it is much more productive to remember that which is worth remembering and years later, when the aging generations recalled the end of that summer they would always conclude the following:

It was a truly beautiful day.

* * *

The Yamanaka flower shop was empty save for two teenage girls chatting over the front counter. Surrounded by blossoms of various colors and scents they too seemed to be blossoming, sparkling eyes and blushing cheeks not out-of-place in this floral arrangement. 

The girl behind the counter was tall and slim, her purple and mesh day-wear covered by a pristine white apron that seemed an odd contrast to her finely toned shoulders and arms. Long golden hair fell in a sweep over one blue eye which was currently focused on her companion as she attentively listened to the story being told.

The second girl was slightly shorter, with a curvier frame. Pale pink hair fell in layers around a face that was entrancingly animated for one of her age. Gesturing with her hands she was relating an encounter between one of her teammates and an opponent on a recent mission. A mischievous spark lit green eyes as she finished with a sly joke that prompted several chuckles from her listener.

"How can Naruto be such a bonehead and such a fighter at the same time?" Ino asked. "I mean, it's one thing to have good luck and a knack for surviving, but he's a liability!"

"Naruto is…special." Sakura allowed. "But he trains hard for every accomplishment. I wouldn't pass him off as a fluke, Ino. He's saved me more times that I can count, and in a fight he's fairly reliable."

"Interesting to hear you say that, Forehead Girl. It's a complete 180 from, say, four years ago."

"Shut up, Ino pig." Sakura retorted, but the insult held no malice. "Naruto may be unpredictable but you shouldn't ever underestimate his ability."

"Hmm." They lapsed into a friendly silence, each girl wrapped up in her own thoughts.

"When do you get off?" Sakura asked, pushing back from the counter. "Do you want to go get dinner soon?"

"I can't." Ino sighed and leaned back on her stool. "Both of my parents are away on a mission for a few days, so the shop is my responsibility."

"Both of them? That's unusual." Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I thought they refused to do joint missions."

"They did when I was younger, but now that I'm older they don't have that huge fear of leaving behind a helpless orphan." Ino shrugged, "It was a rush mission anyway, they left really last minute so I guess it must be important."

"Really? Where did the orders come from?"

"No clue, there was a high classification on the whole thing." Blond hair was tucked neatly behind one ear. "As far as I know they went with Aburame-san so maybe it's a spy mission, considering the makeup of the team."

"Shino's dad?" Sakura was surprised by this information, "That _is_ an interesting combination."

"Yeah." Ino smiled slightly, "The last time my dad teamed up with an Aburame was for the invasion."

"No use worrying about it I suppose." Sakura turned to leave, "I'm going to go get some dinner."

"Alright." Ino also stood, reminding herself it was time to rehydrate the tiger lilies. "See you later." Reaching for a watering can, she mentally ran through the watering schedule her dad had left her, she'd better check the hyacinth as well.

"By the way," Sakura turned back. "Shikamaru is back in town."

Ino watched as water from the tap filled her watering can. "Oh really?" She asked, tone carefully neutral. Inside her head, however, lights exploded. He was back? She hadn't even known!

"This morning." Sakura contemplated her friend's profile. "You haven't seen him yet?"

"No. Why would I?" Ino tested the temperature of the water before shutting it off. "His mission was a success?"

"As always." Sakura hesitated only a second before deciding to reveal what she'd been dancing around her entire visit. "The Sand nins came too."

To a casual observer Ino was unaffected, her hands were steady as she poured the first stream of water into the hanging pot, her facial expression remained unchanged. To someone who knew her well though, in this case Sakura, the news was clearly troubling to the girl. There was a moment of silence before either spoke.

"Temari?" Ino asked finally, wondering why she even bothered to torture herself this way.

"She's here too." Sakura chewed her lip anxiously, as Ino strode a bit too forcefully over to a flat of bright pink roses. "Ino…"

"What?"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Tell him _what_ Sakura?" Ino stopped herself before she drowned the flowers. "I don't recall having an urgent message for him."

Sakura frowned. "It's important Ino! I doubt he's even aware. You should try to talk it out at the very least…"

"Talk about _what_ exactly?" Ino glared at her friend. "I already told you, there isn't anything to talk about!"

There was a sigh from the doorway. "If you want to be that stubborn about it, fine, I wash my hands of this." The door chime tinkled as Sakura stepped out into the street. "But don't say I didn't warn you Ino pig." Another peal from the door charm and she was gone.

Ino finished watering the flowers and cleaned out the floor gutter. Replacing the water can where she'd found it she took a moment to sweep the floor around the counter before returning to her perch on the stool.

It was only then, as she stared at the wooden grain of the countertop that she allowed herself to react to what Sakura had told her.

"Damn it." Her fist hit the counter making paperwork flutter. "That idiot…just…damn it."

* * *

Dusk was beginning to fall when the warning came from the north gate. A trio was approaching the walls, but no signal or identification had been provided, a major breach in protocol regardless of their identity. Using binoculars and sighting techniques, the entrance guards were able to get a glimpse of Konoha armor marred by what seemed to be dirt, blood, or both. 

As the three neared the walls a strange scene began to reveal itself to the watching shinobi. Though all three persons were clearly of Konoha origin they seemed to be fighting amongst themselves. Not petty bickering either, what was unfolding was a full out battle.

"Call the Hokage. Tell her there are unidentified nin approaching, a possible diversion technique." An exploding tag detonated on the dusty road. "Tell her to hurry."

The response to the summons came within three minutes. With medical team and two ANBU members in tow, Tsunade reached the wall just as the three crested a small hill that lay a mile or so from the gate.

"What in the world?" Leaning forward the Hokage watched in disbelief as the lead nin took a kunai to the shoulder in an attempt to shield the injured teammate he carried. "If I didn't know better I would think that was Yamanaka and Aburame."

All doubt was erased as a swarm of insects exploded from the trailing man's sleeves. As the onlookers watched in horror, the insects bunched into a dark needle-like formation before diving straight at Yamanaka Inoichi and the woman he carried.

Her fingers forming seals faster than the eye could follow, Tsunade drew back and shouted wordlessly, releasing a hasty wind attack in the direction of the insect horde, knocking them and Shibi off balance just long enough for the Yamanaka to reach the safety of the gates. "I want all jounin and ANBU here now!" She ordered, sprinting to the arriving shinobi, Shizune at her side. "And get me the Suna delegation, I may need more wind users to handle those bugs." She threw a look at the sky, measuring the time they had before the bugs regrouped from her attack. "Scratch that, get me Aburame Shino. Now!"

The area exploded into action as passerby were herded back and shinobi were gathered forward. Street barriers appeared from nowhere, reinforced by strong chakra enhanced shields as the northern corridor was effectively closed off from the rest of the village.

Konoha was a ninja village to its core and had the emergency routines to prove it.

Tsunade moved past the rapidly appearing defense force, cautiously approaching the man who'd just staggered through the gate.

"Inoichi?" The tall blond man didn't acknowledge her, instead spinning in a tight, protective circle, his teeth bared in defiance. The woman in his arms was limp, her long brown hair trailing over his arm.

Tsunade eyed him warily, "Inoichi, what happened? What is the matter with Kaoru?" From measuring the pair's chakra levels she'd already determined that Yamanaka's wife was still alive, but, from all appearances, completely disabled. Inoichi, despite all signs that he'd just endured a long, desperate flight was simply pulsing with energy. So much of it in fact, that Tsunade held up a warning hand for the people behind her.

"Stay out of range of any potential Yamanaka jutsu." She warned. Shouts announced that Aburame Shibi had reached the gate and she signaled the first pair of ANBU forward, "Disarm him. When Shino gets here I want him to do whatever is necessary to hold off his father's bugs."

Turning back to the first arrival, she cursed under her breath as she realized what he was doing. Having shifted his wife's weight back against his body, Inoichi was currently running through seals Tsunade recognized as being a prelude for a hypnosis technique. His target?

None other than Tsunade herself.

Resigning herself to the fact that questions would have to be asked later, Tsunade ducked under the man's flimsy guard and laid a kick to the top of his left leg. Apparently not expecting a taijutsu attack in his frenzied state, Inoichi crumpled almost immediately, stunned by the blow to his patella tendon. Tsunade snatched Yamanaka Kaoru from his hands as he fell.

Jounin moved forward on both sides to restrain and transport Inoichi, who was recovering at an astonishing rate. Shizune was attending to the man, her eyes narrowed.

Tsunade concentrated instead on the unconscious woman she held. Eerily, the Kaoru's eyes were wide open, the pupils contracted to pinpoints. Her breath came fast and harsh, hands clenched almost to the point of contortions.

"Do you recognize this?" Shizune asked, arriving at Tsunade's side. "Yamanaka isn't responding to any stimulus. He seems almost…feral."

"Yamanaka Kaoru has been poisoned." Tsunade frowned as she registered the woman's high temperature levels. "Perhaps all of them have." From the corner of her eye she could see that the younger Aburame had arrived and had managed to call off the majority of his father's insect attack. Shibi himself was currently being restrained by five jounin as they readied him for transport to the hospital.

"Tell Hatake Kakashi I want him to meet us at the hospital, I need him to scan all three for any signs of genjutsu, ninjutsu…anything he may have seen before." She ordered.

"Make sure Aburame Shino comes along, and have someone fetch the Yamanaka girl. She's the only other one with clan abilities right? Good. In addition I want anyone who knows anything at all about Lightning Country. Got all that? Good. Let's move!"

"Lightning Country?" Shizune asked, as the large group rapidly dispersed around them. "Why?"

"Because that is where these three were spying up until yesterday." Tsunade said grimly, "I have the feeling we are going to need as much knowledge about the area as possible. And soon."


	2. All In the Mind

_Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! I'm writing without a beta reader so you guys are my editors and critics. That said, please let me know what you think. The second chapter is here, and things are getting worse for Konoha..._

_Disclaimer: My birthday's coming so if anyone wants to give me the rights to Naruto, go right ahead. Until then, I have nothing._

**All In the Mind**

"_Don't tell me how life is, because I don't really want to know. Don't tell me how this game ends, we'll just see how it goes." –'Going Down in Flames.' -3 Doors Down_

Ino had never had a panic attack before.

True, she was known for her temper tantrums, random bursts of misplaced emotion, and unrequited crushes, but when it came to dealing with panic and fear she was actually very balanced. She might not have nerves of steel like Tenten or the quiet reserve of Hinata but, as far as kunoichis went, she was fairly levelheaded.

This may have been why she was having a hard time identifying the suffocating feeling that gripped her chest.

She had a good excuse however. Being dragged out of bed by a team of ANBU was not good for anyone's nerves, especially not when you were told that you had exactly _two_ minutes to get up and dressed, questions would be answered _later_, and put that hairbrush down _now_!

Compounded by the fact that she was now sitting in the ICU section of Konoha's hospital, facing the reality that she may, very shortly, become the one and only Yamanaka left in Konoha, it was all a bit much to take.

According to the ANBU in the badger mask, currently standing to her right, her parents and Aburame Shibi had returned from a spying mission to Kumogakure in Lightning Country extremely worse for the wear. From eavesdropping on the various conversations taking place in the treatment rooms Ino had gathered that by the time they reached the gates Aburame Shibi and her father had been locked in a life or death battle with each other. The idea confused and frightened her. The father she knew would never attack a teammate.

Two experienced jounin on the same team turning on each other? It didn't make sense.

Ino had no idea what the status of her mother was, she hadn't been allowed to see either of her parents and badger mask was being less than chatty.

Upon arrival she'd seen team seven's former teacher, Hatake Kakashi deep in conversation with Tsunade, Shizune trailing them from room to room. Sakura had also been running around carrying various equipment, but she'd been in too much of a hurry for Ino to flag her down. Asides from these four, Ino hadn't seen any other familiar faces.

Feeling isolated and more than a little anxious, she stood, badger mask mirroring her. "Are you going to follow me wherever I go?"

"Orders from the Hokage are to keep you under close surveillance." He replied. "You are not to leave the hospital."

What was that supposed to mean? "I'm not going to do anything!" Ino protested, "I'm not a criminal, neither are my parents for that matter…"

"Your loyalty is not being questioned." He told her, the mask effectively leaching each statement of emotion. "This is a typified Class A crisis situation. The Hokage may require the use of your jutsus. As a person of interest, you are not allowed to leave until the crisis is resolved."

"Oh." The Hokage needed _her_ jutsus? How desperate was this situation exactly? Ino had a healthy amount of pride, but she wasn't trying to fool herself. She was considered a capable, maybe even exceptional chuunin, but nothing more.

If she was the Hokage's last hope they were in deep trouble.

"I'm just going to get a drink of water." She told badger mask. "The drinking fountain is just around the corner, I'll be right back."

"Fine. I'll check on you in five minutes."

"Oh jeez thanks." Ino rolled her eyes, "I'll be sure to postpone my escape attempt until then." Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she moved quickly around the corner.

Keeping up the flippant attitude was costing her. Ino noted how her hands shook as she pushed the lever on the fountain. What was going on? Her parents were no fools, neither was Aburame Shibi, how had they fallen into a trap of this scale? What kind of trap was it? Why would Lightning Country have such dangerous defenses? What in the world had they been doing in Lightning Country in the first place?

Were her parents going to recover?

"Yamanaka Ino." A deep voice brought her out of her reverie.

"Huh?" Startled, Ino looked straight into a pair of dark sunglasses. "Shino! I…how are you? I heard you got hurt."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry about your parents."

"Don't apologize idiot, you're the one who saved them after all." She eyed the wheelchair he currently inhabited. "I heard your father's bugs drained most of your chakra."

"It takes a lot of energy to control another person's insects." Shino cleared his throat uneasily. "On behalf of the Aburame clan I apologize for the attack."

"Don't be stupid." The floor tiles were much easier to face than his mirrored glasses. "They're all under some kind of genjutsu or something."

"Hn."

She and Shino could only be considered acquaintances at the most. Despite being enrolled in the same classes since preschool, there had never been much interaction between the two. Simply put, she was social, he was not.

They'd gone on several missions together since their graduation, most notably that in which they'd cleaned up several of Orochimaru's minions and a sea monster, but they'd never been close. In fact, Ino snuck a peak at Shino's profile, what had just occurred could probably be considered their longest conversation on record.

Aburame Shino was a mystery to her, neither a stranger, nor a friend. Ino watched as another group of medic nins rushed past them in the hallway. Wasn't it strange that here, during one of the biggest crises in her young life, she was stuck with Shino?

"I overheard the Hokage and Hatake talking." Shino said suddenly. "They were debating using you to enter your father's mind."

This was news to her. "Shintenshin?" She asked. "But that means…"

"They may not come out of their current condition." Shortly after arrival at the hospital Inoichi had entered a comatose state similar to his wife's. The only one of the three who remained conscious was Shibi, but his frenzy was such that only select ANBU and medic nin were being allowed in and out of his room.

So she really was the last hope. The harried activity around Ino seemed to fade just a bit as she came to terms with just how dire the situation was. For her to use shintenshin on a seasoned mind user like her father was a risky plan. On the best of days his mind would be a maze of traps and dead ends. Now that he had retreated into a coma, one of the most dangerous mental states, invading his mind could be potentially suicidal. Wrapping her arms around her torso Ino shivered, wishing that Shikamaru, or even Chouji, was here to offer some words of encouragement.

"Your five minutes are up." Badger mask was standing in front of her, Hatake Kakashi at his side.

Ino had never felt so alone in her life.

"Ino." Kakashi's visible eye met her two directly. "Could you come with me please?"

"Sure." Ino wet dry lips with her tongue. "I don't have much of a choice do I?" She felt Shino's stare, but didn't acknowledge it. "Lead the way."

* * *

Midnight found Nara Shikamaru at a bar. Not drinking mind you, he didn't really see the point in alcohol. Consuming a poisonous substance simply so you could enjoy a few hours of dizzy headed relaxation wasn't worth the trouble that came after. There were much easier ways to relax in his opinion.

No, Shikamaru was at a bar because of the woman who had dragged him there.

Temari did not share the Nara's viewpoint on drinking and had insisted, demanded actually, that he lead her and Kankuro to just such a place in order to unwind after days of traveling on the hot sandy roads of Suna. Shikamaru hadn't put up much of a fight, it would be futile. The battlefield aside, there were very few situations which he found necessary to dominate with his preferences.

Now though, Shikamaru was tired and ready to call it quits, he'd only arrived back that morning and hadn't even checked in with his mother yet. The delay to do so would cause plenty of unnecessary drama until he explained his role as host to the sand nin, after which he'd probably get off with a comparatively mild talking-to. From his experience, the two sand nin usually became overly hostile after five rounds. They were currently on their fourth and Shikamaru was preparing to intervene when Chouji entered the dusty establishment.

Chouji rarely frequented such places after the kitchens closed, Shikamaru raised an arm to catch the boy's attention. "Chouji!" Chouji approached their table and Shikamaru took in his friend's drawn appearance. "What's wrong?" He asked. "You look…"

Chouji interrupted him. "It's Ino."

Shikamaru's heart temporarily froze. Ino? She hadn't been on a mission had she? He'd checked her deployment status before he'd left and hadn't seen anything serious on the roster, but he'd been gone at least a month and a half. Was she injured? Or was it worse? Chouji wouldn't come find him at this hour of the night without a good reason. Shikamaru closed his eyes.

Not now, not after Asuma…

"She's okay." Chouji hastily corrected his mistake and Shikamaru's lungs re-inflated. "It's not that, Shikamaru, sorry. It's her parents."

"Her parents?" To Shikamaru's knowledge, Yamanaka Inoichi and Kaoru were both active jounin, but rarely, if ever, took joint assignments. Surely there hadn't been two separate accidents?

"Sakura called me." Chouji elaborated, "Said she couldn't get through to you. Both of the Yamanakas are in the hospital, along with Aburame Shibi. Word on the street says there was a fight involving the three of them at the north gate this evening, Tsunade herself had to be called in."

"A fight?" Temari had been listening in on their conversation. "Between your own jounin?"

Chouji nodded at the sand kunoichi. "They were returning from a mission to Lightning Country. Tsunade has asked everyone with information on the area to report to her immediately."

"Lightning Country?" Kankuro scoffed into his drink. "Load of weaklings in that area, you must have your story mixed up. Lightning Country's a joke."

"Where's Ino?" Shikamaru stood. "Temari, Kankuro, I'll have to meet you tomorrow."

"Ah go on." Kankuro slung an arm around his sister's shoulders, Temari was looking dangerously tipsy. "Go see what's up with that blonde teammate of yours."

"The one who got defeated at the chuunin exams, right?" Temari slanted a glance at Shikamaru. "The one from the waterfall."

"Her name is Ino." Chouji corrected her, but Shikamaru steered him away before it could become a confrontation.

"Leave it, they're drunk." He muttered, turning back to the two sand nin he waved. "I'll meet up with you tomorrow."

"You better." Kankuro turned to order another round as they left.

"So where is she?" Shikamaru asked again as they took to the night.

"I'm not sure." Chouji admitted. "I went to her house after Sakura called me but she wasn't there. The neighbors said a group of ANBU had been and gone about thirty minutes before."

"ANBU?" Even a single ANBU sent to deliver a death notice was rare, so for several of them to collect a chuunin… "Inoichi and Kaoru aren't suspected of illegal activity are they?" The thought was absurd, the Yamanaka clan was Konoha born and bred, had been for generations.

"I don't think so." They leaped over the rooftops. "Sakura said both were in the ICU, high security corridor."

The reached the hospital in under five minutes, speeding past the doctors and nurses on the lower levels, arriving at the desk to the ICU in record time.

"The ICU is currently off limits to visitors." A jounin stood behind the desk, his gaze hard. "State your names and ranks."

Shikamaru took in the chaotic scene unfolding behind the man. He could count, off hand, at least seven medic nins rushing between three rooms. ANBU stood at every corner, masks in place. He strained for a glimpse of familiar blond hair but couldn't spot Ino.

"Never mind that!" Both boys turned to find Sakura standing behind them. Flanked by Shizune, her arms piled high with papers, she nodded the jounin aside. "I asked them to come, these two are with me."

"Fine." The boys fell into step with Sakura as they were waved past.

"Thank goodness you two got here, I was just about to call again…"

"What're those?" Chouji eyed the papers in her arms.

"Toxicology reports for the Yamanakas and Aburame, we just got them back from the lab." Shizune answered. "The results are disturbing to say the least."

"How so?" Shikamaru was still scanning the area for any glimpse of Ino, with no luck. Where was she?

"All three came back with irregular levels of testosterone." Shizune replied, "And according to their brain scans, the lobe area responsible for aggression is severely swollen, to the point of causing possible brain trauma. Yamanaka Kaoru is the worst of the three, unless we can reduce the brain swelling in the affected region other areas may start to suffer."

"A poison?" If that was the cause, how had it been administered? And how long had it taken for it to have a noticeable affect? Shikamaru's brain raced, to affect hormone levels like that…

"We're not sure."

"Where is Ino?" Chouji was also searching for their teammate. "Sakura didn't you say she was here?"

"I saw her in the hallway a while ago." Sakura frowned, "Hang on, I'll check." Leaving her papers with Shizune she hurried over to the group gathered around one of the treatment rooms. Within moments, she was back with worry lines on her forehead, an ANBU in tow.

"What is it?" Chouji and Shikamaru exchanged a look.

"Yamanaka Ino has been summoned to the room of Yamanaka Inoichi." The ANBU said. "She is currently accompanied by Hatake Kakashi and the Hokage."

"You're kidding." Chouji looked at the man incredulously. "What in the world would they want with Ino? Bring her out here, Shikamaru and I want to…"

"Yamanaka Ino is following the direct orders of the Hokage to use shintenshin no jutsu on her father." All three of them gaped at the man. "Due to their unresponsiveness, we were left with no other way to retrieve information about the failed mission to Lightning Country."

"Ino is performing shintenshin no jutsu on a man who's in a coma?" From years of practicing with Ino, Shikamaru was well aware of the dangers of the technique and knew that what had just been said posed a huge risk to the kunoichi. "Who thought this was necessary?"

"Orders of the Hokage." The ANBU repeated.

"We're going in to see her." Shikamaru stepped forward, Chouji matching him stride for stride. Ignoring the ANBU, he turned to their former classmate. "Sakura, get us in there, I need to talk to Tsunade."

The door to the first examination room swung open and they faced Tsunade herself. "Nara, Akimichi, Haruno." She didn't sound at all surprised to see them. "You're here about your friend?"

They nodded. Walking forward Shikamaru could see into the room. Inoichi lay in the central bed, every sort of monitor imaginable attached to his body. Next to him, on a smaller cot lay Ino, eyes closed, body limp. Hatake Kakashi stood at her side, arms folded.

"She's started shintenshin." Shikamaru observed. So much for convincing Tsunade to wait. "How long has she been out?"

"15 minutes." The Hokage moved to let them past. "We're afraid we might be losing her in his mind."

* * *

From Ino's experience, every person's mind was organized slightly differently. Shikamaru's resembled a large field, Chouji's a forest, Asuma's had been a shogi board, Sakura's was, surprisingly enough, a dark void. Her own resembled a scrap book, each memory sorted and labeled, pages constantly flipping back and forth. Each mind had strengths and pitfalls, traps as well as easily traversed corridors, some were stronger, others more vulnerable.

The business of the Yamanakas was to break each and every kind.

Her father's mind was undoubtedly the most dangerous she'd ever been in. A seasoned mind user, his thoughts were hidden by a labyrinth, complete with horrid creatures and traps. Ino had been fighting her way through the twisted passages for some time now and was beginning to lose chakra control.

She was also getting inordinately pissed off.

"Damn it Dad, couldn't you have one weak point?" She muttered, side stepping around a clinging vine of some sort. "It's me for heaven's sake! I'm here to _help_ you."

She had to be careful, she knew, one wrong step here and she might not make it back. She was also hoping to avoid incurring any injuries from her encounters with Inoichi's mental creations. Any injuries or contact inflicted on her mental form could be very easily carried back to her physical form during the transfer. Ino wanted to avoid that.

Finally, she found what she was looking for. A small part of the hedge that surrounded her glimmered, its appearance shifting ever so slightly. Moving quickly, mental lapses were rare for her father, Ino delivered a hard, chakra-enhanced kick to the shimmering spot. "Come on Dad." She pleaded.

The world around her shattered.

Shards of broken scenery flew past and Ino crouched to shield herself. Fragmented memories _hurt_. Peeking through the swiftly re-animating landscape she found her father, standing far to her left, the hedge around him already rebuilding itself.

"Dad!" She sprinted towards him, ignoring the cuts peppering themselves across her arms. "Dad, wait! It's me!"

"Ino?" Inoichi froze, fingers halted in the middle of a seal sequence. "What are you _doing_ here?!" He grabbed her as she reached him, anger etched onto his face. "What's one of the first lessons you learned with shintenshin? _Never_ enter a comatose person's mind!"

"The Hokage told me to." Ino pulled free, somewhere between anger and hysteria. "You and mom are both unconscious Dad! Aburame Shibi has gone crazy, no one can go anywhere near him! What's going on? A genjutsu? Is it Lightning Country?"

"Damn it." Inoichi covered his face with his hands, "Forget about all that for right now Ino, we have to get you out of here. I can maybe counteract the serum for a moment or two, but that's all you'll have to perform the release seal…"

"What serum Dad?" Ino was frightened, but not about to give up. "I cannot and will not leave until you give me some answers. Is Konoha in danger? What is Lightning Country up to?"

Inoichi, despite being a frantic father, was at heart a shinobi and no matter how much he wanted to protect his little girl from his own mind, he saw the wisdom in her words. "Ino, listen carefully because I only have time to go through it once."

"Right." Ino could see something dark creeping towards them in her peripheral vision, what was that? The shadow was deftly maneuvering its way around every barrier her father was erecting, was this one of his own traps? Ignoring it for the moment, she focused on what he was saying.

"Tell Tsunade that reports of a gathering of power in Kumogakure are not exaggerated, there is a significant threat. Lightning Country is gearing up for an invasion of Konoha."

"An invasion?" Lightning Country hadn't made any power grabs since the incident with the Hyuuga clan more than a decade ago. To Ino's knowledge, the area had never been classified as anything more than a non-threat. "Why?"

"They're hoping to expand their power spear into this part of the continent." He told her, "They need our wood and farming lands, among other things. Shibi and I discussed the possibility that it may be a move to counteract the growth of the Akatsuki, but there's no definitive proof. Our estimates place the earliest day of invasion as three days from now."

"Three days?" Ino's mind whirled around the idea. "That's hardly enough time…" The dark area in Inoichi's mind was creeping closer. "Dad, what is that?"

"That's the most important part." Inoichi started forward, "Walk with me Ino."

They hurried away, the darkness followed.

"Kumogakure has a competent group of nin, but nothing that poses a real threat to Konoha, or anywhere else for that matter." Inoichi pushed his daughter forward, up a small rise. "To balance out their weakness they've developed a new weapon, which is what your mother, Shibi, and I encountered."

He was pulling her by the hand, almost at a run now. "What is it?" Ino gasped as huge patches of hedge were swallowed up behind them. "Is this genjutsu? If it is, how can I see it?"

"Those are hormones. The weapon is biological, Kumogakure scientists have developed a poision, a serum of sorts which overloads the body with testosterone, enhancing natural aggressiveness." Inoichi nodded towards the swiftly darkening area around them. "It plays on a person's natural inclination to fight, but overloads their mind at the same time, erasing any logical thought processes that allow them to distinguish friend from enemy. Ino, if they manage to release this in Konoha…"

"Everyone will kill each other."

"It saves them a lot of effort if Konoha wipes itself out." Inoichi elaborated. "They just have to release the serum, wait for it to take effect, then come in with a clean up crew."

She bit her lip, "Is there any way to combat it?"

"Avoidance is the only foolproof way." Inoichi shook his head. "After contact the individual must either retreat into their own mind, like your mother and I, or give in to the hormones like Shibi. I managed to stay partially in control of my mind, long enough to make it back to Konoha at least, but I've had years of experience with mind control Ino. The average shinobi won't stand a chance."

"Will you be okay?" They crested the small hill, father and daughter both watching the destruction of Inoichi's mind take place before them. "Are you and mom going to wake up?"

"Tell Tsunade she needs to start preparing antidotes of some sort. I'm not sure how she'll make them, but she's going to have to balance out or remove the excess testosterone in the system." Inoichi ruffled his daughter's hair affectionately. "The medic nins will smooth this out princess, but your mother and I will stay comatose until they do. It's too big a risk for the rest of you if we wake up."

"You'd attack." Ino said, "Just like Aburame san."

"Time for you to go." The dark was almost upon them. The time had come for her to leave. "Remember everything I told you Ino, it's important Tsunade has the whole story."

"Right." Ino looked around, "Which way am I going?"

Inoichi's face turned stony, preparing for the task ahead. "I will regain consciousness long enough for you to take control of my body. Perform the release seal and leave as fast as you can. I'm exhausted, I'm not capable of holding the hormones back very long, so there's a chance they'll latch on to you."

"And if they do?" Would she wake up and try to slaughter Hatake Kakashi? He'd kill her in a second.

"It's going to hurt, Ino, but it's better if it hurts than if it doesn't, it means you're resisting. Erect a mind wall as fast as you can. You remember what I taught you? Good. Throw that wall up and hold it until they can force some estrogen into you or something." He offered a crooked smile. "Never thought either of my girls would ever need more estrogen..."

"Shut up Dad." She molded her hands into the first seal. "I'm ready."

* * *

Thirty minutes had passed since they'd been allowed into the room when Inoichi's eyes flashed open.

Sakura noticed first and was at the man's side instantly. "Yamanaka san? Can you hear me?" His hands were twitching under the blankets. "Tsunade I think he's…"

Shikamaru figured it out first. "That's not Inoichi, it's Ino." He was proven right as the man's body flopped to the side nearest the girl, the hands raised to chest level in a familiar seal.

"Release!" The man's body fell limp.

They all stared down at Ino. There was no immediate change, but Chouji and Shikamaru hadn't been expecting it. "How long does it usually take her to return to her body?" Kakashi asked.

Chouji shrugged, "Anywhere from a few seconds to five minutes. It depends on distance usually."

"Here she comes." Shikamaru announced, having recognized the familiar signs of Ino's reentrance. "It may take her a second to readjust."

It was not a peaceful awakening by any means. Ino screamed before her eyes were even open.

She lurched forward, grabbing the closest person, Shikamaru, her hands digging into the front of his vest. "Tsunade! Kumogakure…it's an invasion…three days! Aaah!" She flailed, but Shikamaru held her arms. "Don't let go! Don't let go of me! Tell Tsunade…ahh my head!"

"She's been affected by the same poison as the others." Tsunade knelt by the girl, "Ino, can you tell me what did this?"

"A poison." Ino was communicating as clearly as she could manage, but all the while her body trembled wildly, forcing Chouji to help Shikamaru hold her steady. "Hormone serum…it's a…testosterone! Tsunade you have to…ahh! Balance it! Balance it out!"

"It checks out with the reports." Shizune confirmed from the doorway. "Shall I send for medics?"

"I'll take care of this. Hold her still." The Hokage knelt next to the three, rolling her sleeves back. "She's more lucid than the others, must have had mild contact with this serum while in her father's mind. That's how it works with the Yamanakas, isn't it? I think I can use my chakra to purge it from her. Just in case, Sakura run and see if we have any estrogen-based injections available. If we don't, make one."

"Yes!" Sakura sprinted from the room.

"Three days!" Ino babbled, "Three days left!"

Tsunade pursed her lips, "Nara, Hatake, Akimichi, I may need to borrow your chakra for this, I've never attempted to extract hormone-based serum before. Let's begin."


	3. Close Quarters

_Author's Notes: Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter, fresh off the keyboard. Thank you sooo much to everyone who has reviewed or messaged me, it really keeps my spirits up and helps me churn these chapters out faster. Whenever I get stuck I look at what you write and it pushes me forward. As always, read, review, and let me know what you think. Konoha may be on the brink of war, but who's to say personal angst doesn't take a front seat for our favorite shinobi and kunoichi?_

_Disclaimer: Though I'm tempted to steal Kishimoto's identity I don't think I'd do a very good job at being him. And then I'd never find out how the story really ends. Which would drive me crazy._

**Close Quarters**

"_Feels like the weight of the world, like God and heaven gave me a turn." – 'Weight of the World' by Evanescence_

Morning found Konoha a changed village. Gone were the cheerful street vendors and chatty shop owners. No one roamed the streets, previously open windows were now barred and latched. The sun continued to shine, the birds continued to sing, but not a single person stopped to enjoy the atmosphere.

Konoha was preparing for war.

Bulletins had been posted late in the night, calling all citizens to arms. Active shinobi and kunoichi were summoned to headquarters to be briefed on the approaching threat, laypeople were encouraged to take vacations, children at the academy were skipped ahead several lessons to the proper handling of battle weapons. Everyone was preparing for the coming attack.

Unfortunately, no one knew just what form the attack would take.

Tsunade had been up late into the night, alternating between meeting with advisors and checking on her five patients, Yamanaka Ino and Aburame Shino now being included on the list. Shino had begun displaying signs of testosterone overload halfway through the night. It had subsequently been discovered that by calling his father's insects into himself he'd been unwittingly contaminated. The find only made strategists more nervous. Just how versatile was this serum? Just how much of it was needed to be affective? The arguments lasted well into the morning.

Which was why, when Shikamaru finally managed to rendezvous with the Suna delegation around noon, he was thoroughly exhausted. Sinking down into a chair between Temari and Gaara, he fought against a building headache. "Sorry I'm late." He managed, "Is there any coffee?"

Temari pushed a cup to him. "So what is the status of your teammate and the others?" She asked, cutting straight to the point. It was one of her better qualities, she had the least feminine scruples of any girl Shikamaru had ever met. "We already learned the basics from the bulletins."

"The original three are much the same." Shikamaru frowned down at his drink. "In the case of the Yamanakas this might be voluntary, but Aburame Shibi is clearly out of his mind, his room has to be monitored around the clock."

"The other two?" Gaara's eyes were focused on the passing traffic in the street. "Did the Hokage determine an effective treatment?"

"Not really." Shikamaru drained his cup, which Temari replaced with Kankuro's. "She managed to balance their hormone levels through manual, chakra-fueled treatment, but it's a tedious, time-consuming process. They were mild cases and it took her two hours for each, much like poison removal."

"That's a nasty procedure." Kankuro shook his head, remembering. "Worst day of my life. Well, almost."

"Estrogen treatments?" Temari proposed. "Would it counteract the testosterone?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "They decided against using it. On a very slight case it might work, but only if injected quickly enough. Once the brain is overloaded with too much of any hormone the results can be dangerous. Estrogen injections are being prepared for the battle kits, but we're not sure how well they'll perform. Purging the system with chakra is the only reliable method we've arrived at."

They lapsed into silence.

"Suna is willing to offer support in the coming battle." Gaara spoke, fixing kohl rimmed eyes on the tired Konoha genius. "If not stopped at the outset, Lightning Country will become a problem for many more people than the Leaf nin."

"Thank you." Gaara's offer caught Shikamaru off guard. Though logically he knew the boy had come a long way from the cold-blooded killer of the chuunin exams, he couldn't help but fall back to his first impression at times. "Tsunade will want to talk to you immediately."

"I wish to see the hospitalized individuals first." Gaara stood, the others mirroring his movements. "To observe what we will be dealing with."

"Of course." Shikamaru had been planning on heading back to the hospital to check on Ino anyway. "It's only a block or so from here."

Paying their bill the four of them stepped out into the street. Groups of genin scurried back and forth, working under the watchful eye of their teachers to fortify buildings and begin building battle stations. In the distance Shikamaru could hear the peal of bells. Was Tsunade seriously considering using the old warning system?

The bell system predated the oldest building in Konoha by at least two hundred years. Shikamaru wasn't even sure when it had last been used. Before his father's time, definitely. If Tsunade was resurrecting such an archaic idea she must be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Then again, it was hard to prepare for a war in which the enemies may very well be your own people.

The mood in the ICU was calmer than it had been the night before, but the sense of urgency was palpable. Aburame Shibi's room was still under heavy guard, though the shouts of its lone occupant were now fewer and far between. A small ANBU contingent remained behind, the three masked figures discussing something in low tones.

"Kankuro and I will observe the three nins who were initially affected." Gaara decided. "Temari, you will accompany Nara to see Aburame Shino and Yamanaka Ino. I expect a full report later."

"Yes, Gaara." Temari fell into step with Shikamaru. "Which room are they in?"

"The farthest on the right." They began weaving their way through the hallway. "I'm not sure how much you'll be able to talk to either of them. Ino and Shino had both been sedated heavily when I left them last night."

"Sedated?"

"For the pain." Shikamaru shook memories of Ino's screams out of his head. "Resisting the testosterone is extremely painful, we think this may have been built into the serum on purpose. It ensures the majority of those affected would succumb to the aggressive impulses instead of opposing. Ino was prepped by her father on how to resist it and Shino's reaction was delayed because the toxin was spread through contact with his bugs. Both of them were able to hold off the hormone long enough for the Hokage to intervene."

"Hmm." Temari fingered the edge of her fan. "So it's a matter of will power then?"

"Only for a while." Shikamaru knocked on the closed door to the treatment room. "Without treatment even the most skillful will succumb, an example being Yamanaka Inoichi. We estimate he was able to delay the onset by at least 7 hours."

"That's not much time to work with." Temari mused. The door to the treatment swung open, revealing Sakura.

"Shikamaru!" She exclaimed, a weary smile creasing her face. "Ino was just asking…" Her eyes fell on his companion. "Temari." Sakura shot an unreadable glance at Shikamaru.

"Suna has offered its help in the coming battle." Shikamaru told her, "Gaara requested that the Suna nins be allowed to see the status of the patients."

Sakura's eyes were shuttered as she regarded Shikamaru. "They aren't just _patients_, Shikamaru. I'm not going to let you use Ino and Shino as guinea pigs."

"Sakura!" Shikamaru was taken-aback by this response. Sakura was very rarely rude, so why now did she choose to make his life more difficult? "We're going to need Suna's support, we can't withhold information and expect them to help us."

Sakura bristled. "If it's _information_ you need, by all means, don't let me stop you, but if I hear that either of you have been upsetting my _friends_, you will have to answer to me. Understand?" Pushing past both of them, she shot Shikamaru a parting glance that he couldn't even begin to decipher. "You have ten minutes and not a second more." In an instant she was gone, moving on to the next room.

"Is she usually that welcoming?" Temari murmured as they walked through the door.

"I don't know what's bothering her." Shikamaru replied. Sakura was usually pretty level-headed. Maybe she was tired? They rounded the corner, now visible to the occupants of the beds.

Shino was in the bed closest to the door, his characteristic sunglasses in place, covers pulled up to his nose. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, as usual, but Shikamaru found himself wondering just how much of the previous conversation the boy had heard. "Shino." His greeting was met with a nod. "How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"Shikamaru? It's about time you got here." Ino's bed was partially obscured by a privacy curtain which she pulled aside as she was speaking in order to see him. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd get your lazy…" She fell abruptly silent.

"You're looking better." He remarked, then, watching as the smile drained off her face, hastened to explain the situation. "Temari and the other sand nin are going to be helping us deal with Lightning Country so I'm taking them around to show them the current state of things."

"Oh." Ino pulled the covers up over her shoulders. "Well I'm still alive if that's what you're wondering." She turned away. "If you don't mind, I had a rough night so I'm going to catch up on some sleep."

Just why did women forever contradict sense and logic? For all their blather about manners and sensitivity, Shikamaru was convinced they meant to hold only men to their high standards. "Ino!" He strode to the side of her bed. "Cut it out! I need you to answer some questions for Temari."

"All my vital information is on the chart outside the door." She shot back. "If that's what you came for, why'd you bother coming in?"

"To see how you were doing!" She showed no signs of complying and he sighed. Of all the times for adolescent Ino to rear her obstinate head. "Can't you please just sit up and answer a few questions?"

"Ask Shino." She replied. "I'm going back to bed."

"For the love of…" Shino was a hopeless conversationalist at the best times, after witnessing this little scene he'd probably offer as much information as a clam. "Temari, I'm sorry about this, we're going to have to come back later."

"It's fine." Her eyes glittered as she stared at the girl on the bed. "It's a pity that Konoha kunoichi can't take orders. I'll wait in the hall." She strode out.

Watching her go Shikamaru fought hard to regain control of his temper. He was tired, stressed, and worried, of all the things he didn't need a temper tantrum from his former teammate ranked high on his list. "Thanks a lot Ino."

"If you want someone to follow your orders go get some damn genin to obey your every bidding." She snapped back.

"Very mature of you." He retorted, regretting the words before they left his mouth. What was the point of digging this hole any deeper? He'd write off her behavior as a delayed reaction to everything she'd gone through in the last 24 hours. "I'll come back later when you're ready to talk."

"Don't bother."

Or maybe she was just being Ino. He turned at the door. "I'll be _back_, Ino. And so help me, if you aren't willing to talk to us then, I'll consider you in contempt of authority." Her shoulders were stiff under her sheets. She didn't reply.

Shikamaru slammed the door on the way out. It was a childish move, and it didn't make him feel much better.

* * *

Twenty minutes later and Ino was still mad. How dare he? To waltz in here and wave that sand kunoichi under her nose while she was bed ridden and more discouraged than she could ever remember being. He'd treated her like she was an attraction on a guided tour! And all while that…that _girl_ stood there and smirked in all her jounin superiority. Even that cocky Kankuro would have been preferable.

Temari was the absolutely last person Ino wanted to see when she was this vulnerable. She was wearing a hospital gown for heaven's sake! She hardly resembled the competent kunoichi she had worked so hard to become. That she'd been injured in the line of duty was all she had to console herself. What had Shikamaru been thinking? What had Temari been thinking? Hot tears scalded the inside of her eyelids and she buried her head farther under the cheap hospital pillow.

It figured that the one boy she really wanted to think well of her was the only one who could make her cry.

She really did feel horrible, it seemed as if every pore on her body had been picked apart and clumsily reassembled. She was considered one of the lucky though, at least she wasn't in the same state as her parents, or Aburame Shibi. The thought of the current, impossible situation was almost too much and older, more painful memories were quick to surface. Her lips trembled and she pressed them tightly together, willing herself to think of something, anything but that…

Asuma sensei.

She'd never properly mourned the man she considered her second father. It had been easier and more productive to seek revenge, band together with Shikamaru and Chouji and rush off after the people responsible for their loss. She was kidding herself, however, if she thought that had been enough.

Once the tears got started it was awfully hard to stop them.

"You're crying?" The deep voice was a rude reminder that she didn't have her own room.

"Obviously." Struggling to regain control, Ino sat up and rubbed her eyes hard. "It's been awhile." The excuse was a lame one, but what else was she really supposed to say?

It was true though, the last time she'd cried had to be at least four or five years ago when she'd found out that her teammates had left without her to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke. Her parents had thought she'd been upset about Sasuke's defection and she'd let them think that, but it wasn't the real reason.

That Shikamaru considered her too weak to include on his team had hit her like a shuriken in the chest.

Miserably she wondered what he must think of her now.

"Nara upset you that much?" Shino was watching her, probably gauging whether he should call the nurse.

"Yes…no…both." Ino sighed, "I really blew that, didn't I?'

"You should have complied with Nara's questioning." Shino assessed, "He was only doing his job."

"Oh, so pandering to that sand kunoichi is his _job_ is it?"

The Aburame regarded her carefully. "I don't think you're being fair to Nara. He's never shown you any ill will."

"I don't expect you to understand how I feel." She snapped, but regretted doing so right away. "Shino, this isn't a good time for me."

"I understand. I haven't had the best day myself."

Well of course he hadn't. In the past 24 hours Shino had defeated his father in battle, watched the man go crazy, been afflicted with the same serum that had caused his father's break down and now he was stuck in a close quarters with one of Konoha's most temperamental women. It was not what anyone would consider a good time.

And yet he was making an effort to talk to her and she appreciated it. The least she could manage was to be civil. Banishing the last of the traitorous tears from her eyes, Ino sighed.

"Shino, do you think I'm weak?"

It was a loaded question, so she had to give him credit for answering at all. "At the moment, emotionally, yes you are." He replied after a pause.

"I meant in general, as a kunoichi."

She waited while he thought about it. "Your jutsus are not conducive to intense battle situations." Shino said finally. "You seem competent at taijutsu but not to the point where you can cover your weakness effectively. If you trained more, perhaps you could begin to make up for it, but at the moment, no."

"I see." It was a harsh assessment, but Ino had asked for it. He hadn't lied either. Shino had told her the truth.

He surprised her by continuing. "On the other hand, in the area of espionage and spying Yamanaka skills are unparalleled. In terms of mental power and manipulation you and your father are this village's finest. Even the Hokage recognized this. Everyone agrees you did very well last night."

"The…they do?" His praise stunned her. Sure, she'd been hoping to hear at least something positive, but not on that scale. Certainly not from Shino. "Thank you."

"I'm only stating the facts."

"Thank you anyway." A small smile sprang to her lips. "You didn't do too badly yourself."

His eyebrows raised a bit at the compliment, but there was no other reaction. "You will have to comply to Nara's questioning when he returns, regardless of whether the sand nin is with him or not."

"I know." Ino's brow furrowed at the thought of facing the two of them. If she knew Shikamaru, which she did, he was mad as hell right now and would probably not be kind on his return. Humiliation awaited her. Ino sighed.

Maybe now was a good time to take a nap.

* * *

It was well past seven in the evening by the time Shikamaru arrived home. Sighing wearily he kicked off his sandals at the door, stepping up onto the polished wooden floor of the entryway. What he wouldn't give for two hours of down time, to collapse on his bed and stay there without having to worry about the approaching apocalypse of Konoha, but no, he had to be born with a high IQ and the inability to resist pushy women.

He was going to blame his father for that latter attribute.

"I'm home." He called out to the silent house. He could faintly detect the sound of cooking coming from the kitchen, which meant…

"Shikamaru!" His mother rounded the corner, a pair of long cooking chopsticks in her hand. "Welcome back!"

"Thanks mom." He let her hug him, briefly relaxing in the familiar embrace. "I'm sorry I didn't come home last night…"

"Your father explained everything." She told him, she took in his dirty appearance. "I wouldn't let you get away with it normally, but this is a special circumstance. Come in and get something to eat, you look exhausted."

"I can't stay." He told her, "I have to get back to the hospital."

"Not right now you don't. The Hokage can wait until you've had a proper meal and a few hours of sleep." Yoshino began pulling him forward. "If she has a problem with that she can talk to me."

If such a confrontation was allowed to take place there would be nothing of Konoha left for Lightning Country to destroy. "It's not for the Hokage." He told her, "I have to talk to Ino and Shino. Temari and I stopped by to interview them earlier, but Ino…it wasn't a good time to talk."

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?" Yoshino smiled. "Ino's here."

"I…what?" He stared at his mother. "Did you say Ino's _here_?"

"In the kitchen." The cooking chopsticks flourished towards the aforementioned room. "I picked her up from the hospital this afternoon. Poor dear, it's a shame about her parents. Your father is worried sick about Inoichi, not that he'd admit to it, the stubborn git…"

Of all the people Shikamaru was unable to keep up with in a conversation, his mother was number one. Many in Konoha wondered how someone as outgoing and forceful as Yoshino could have produced a son as retiring and unmotivated as Shikamaru. It was true, Shikamaru was Shikato's mirror image, but what many people didn't know was that when either of the Nara men needed to talk, _really_ talk, Yoshino was the only one they went to. This may have also been partially due to the fact that if she knew either was harboring a secret no amount of smarts in the world could stand in the way of her extracting the information. Shikamaru had often wondered if Shikato had been fast-talked into marriage.

His mother was still talking, something about life-long bonds and loyalty, a tangent far different from his current thought processes. There was no point trying to catch up to her train of thought. "Is Shino here too?"

"Shibi's boy?" Yoshino gave her son a once-over. "Why in the world would Aburame's son be here? This isn't a hotel Shikamaru, I'm sure he'll be much more comfortable at his own home. Are you feeling alright? You look horrible."

"Thanks mom." He held his hands up. "Just…explain again, why is Ino in the kitchen?" Unless the blonde was laying in wait to shred him to pieces for whatever he'd done earlier in the day he couldn't think of a single reason why she would choose to spend the evening with Nara Yoshino.

Then again, they were actually pretty similar personality types. Heaven forbid the two of them ever teamed up.

"You haven't been listening to a single word I've said!" The chopsticks contacted hard with the top of his head. "There is far too much of your father in you Shikamaru, and after all my hard work…"

"Mom? Mom please…" He rubbed his head ruefully. "Explain again."

Yoshino sighed. "I told you dear, when you and Ino were born we named the Yamanakas as your legal guardians should your father and I die while you're still underage, and they did the same. Ino isn't 20 yet, so we're merely acting on the Yamanaka's wishes."

"The Yamanakas aren't _dead_." Shikamaru glanced towards the kitchen, wondering if Ino was eavesdropping. She had a tendency towards that. "The Hokage is confident they'll recover once she has time to work on them."

"Well of course they aren't _dead_." Yoshino replied, a bit too loudly in Shikamaru's opinion. "But Ino was scheduled for release from the hospital this afternoon and that nice Haruno Sakura came by to ask for my help. Ino needs to be under surveillance, just in case they didn't catch all of the hormone. They could hardly send her home to that empty flower shop. Our names are on the legal papers, so we're the logical choice."

"I see." So that was the way of things, was it? Well that saved him a trip to the hospital at least. It also meant he'd be living in close quarters with the girl for the next few days, which would be fine unless she was still mad at him. Regardless, it would give him a chance to make sure she didn't get herself into trouble during the coming battle. The thought made him feel slightly better.

He wasn't about to let the Hokage use Ino for her badly-planned ideas again.

"Go in and get something to eat." Yoshino ordered him. "And be nice to Ino, she's had a bad day."

"And I haven't?" He muttered, ducking as the chopsticks swung again. "Where are you going?"

"To get the guest room ready." She shooed him off. "Now go, she's probably wondering where everyone's gone."

Taking heart in the thought that he was on his home turf, Shikamaru walked into the kitchen. It was the largest room in the house, separated from the living room by only a sliding door which currently stood open. A long wooden table dominated the space, surrounded by chairs and covered with a neat white cloth. Shikamaru had often complained that the piece of furniture was much too large for their modest, three person family, but it stayed, entirely due to the fact that his mother considered it part of his future inheritance and would hear of no one moving the blasted thing. Only half of it was used for dining, the other half cluttered with papers, various books and, as always, his shogi board.

He'd wanted to banish the board to some dusty closet after the funeral, not wanting the constant reminder of what had been lost. However, in a rare instance of forcefulness, Shikato would hear nothing of it. "Leave the board." His father had told him, hands shoved deep into his pockets. "Reminders, no matter how painful, are necessary. Without them we'd have no memories. Without memories, few of us can remember who _we_ are."

And so the shogi board remained.

Ino was sitting at the far end of the table, facing him over a half-finished bowl of miso soup. She blinked innocently at him, "Oh! Shikamaru…"

"You heard everything didn't you?" He sank down into the chair kitty-corner from her. "I _know_ you were listening Ino, so don't pretend."

"It's really irritating how you always know everything." She huffed, "Of all the people in Konoha, why did you have to get the highest IQ?" This was said with no malice, it was an old retort in fact, as comfortable for Shikamaru to hear as it was for Ino to say.

"It didn't take smarts to figure it out." He helped himself to his own bowl of soup. "You're just predictable."

"I am _not_ predictable." Ino replied, but she didn't push the argument any farther and Shikamaru let it drop, as usual. He gulped his soup down and helped himself to seconds. His mother would be happy, she approved of healthy appetites. Drinking down his next bowl at a less-desperate pace he took a moment to watch the girl across from him.

Asides from a slight palor, there was no evidence that she'd been through an intense, healing procedure less than a day before. She was also back to wearing her normal clothes, having presumably ditched the hospital gown back in the ICU. Scabs from cuts she'd received while in her father's mind ran up and down her arms, but all were healing well. Yes, Ino looked like she was going to be fine. So what, he wondered, was wrong with this picture?

It came to him as he watched her pick up the same piece of seaweed for the fifth time with nervous movements.

Ino wasn't talking.

This was, strategically, a very difficult situation. After years of interaction with the blond Shikamaru was well aware that one badly-phrased inquiry could bring all the furies and fires of hell down onto his poor, undeserving head. To not inquire was potentially dangerous as well, since it would be interpreted not as fear, but as disinterest.

Buying himself time, he filled his mouth with salty broth from his bowl. Just how should he breach this silence? An apology was usually the safest way of disarming the situation, but what was he apologizing for? Shikamaru thought back to their earlier encounter, where exactly had it all gone wrong? He'd walked into the room, said hello to Shino…

She saved him by speaking first. "I'm sorry." The abused shred of seaweed was being ground against the bottom of her bowl. "For earlier."

An apology from _Ino_? That was rare indeed. And unexpected. Shikamaru didn't say anything right away, sensing that more was coming. He was right.

"I wasn't feeling well." She rushed on, words blending together. "So it was a bad time, but I should have cooperated so…sorry."

"It's fine." He said. Maybe Ino was not as well as she looked, for her to apologize twice in a matter of 10 seconds was not only rare, it was worrisome. He and Chouji might groan about it to all of their friends, but Ino's fierce, unrepentant nature was simultaneously exasperating and endearing. She must have been shaken badly from her experience the night before. He almost continued, beginning to say how glad he was she had come through okay, starting to tell her never to scare Chouji and him like that again, but stopped himself. He was in no position to say such things.

If a shinobi wore his heart on his sleeve he was certain to lose it.

Instead, he stood, taking both his and her bowls to the sink. There was no use in letting her permanently embed seaweed into his mother's lacquer ware. He'd be the one cleaning it out anyway. She moved to help, snatching a damp cloth from the sideboard to wipe down the table.

With their fathers on the same team, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino had been shuttled between the three houses for babysitting, gatherings, and meetings from a very young age. They were all as comfortable at each other's houses as they were at their own.

"You did a good job with shintenshin." He stacked dirty dishes in the neat piles his mother demanded. "The information your father had for Tsunade was invaluable."

A smile sprang to her lips. "I _did_ do a good job, didn't I? Shino said everyone was talking about it."

"Did he?" Shino had said that? The idea of him and Ino chatting alone in their hospital room was…odd. He wondered who had started the conversation. What else had they talked about? The sight of Shino's dark sunglasses in contrast to the pale hospital room stuck in his mind. The younger Aburame was serious, methodical, and a powerful fighter. Ino was none of those things. So what had they found in common to talk about during their hours of recovery?

Why did he care?

"Yep. He's not as creepy as you would think." She continued, catching her slip before he did. "Not that you'd think he's creepy…you guys are friends right?"

"Yeah." Were they friends? Maybe. As close to friends as one got with Shino anyway. "I'll need to talk to you two tomorrow, the sand nin need to be prepped for what's coming and at this moment you and Shino are the only two who've faced down this serum."

"Right." She paused. "Is…uh…is Temari going to be there?"

"Temari? Yeah, she's coming." He was surprised Ino knew the sand kunoichi's name. They hadn't had extensive contact with each other as far as he could recall. "You remember her?"

"Of course." Ino was looking at him strangely. "From the first chuunin exams, and operation 'Return a Favor'."

"Oh that's right. So you two know each other, good, that means you'll get along then."

Ino coughed suddenly and he raised an eyebrow. "You're not getting sick are you?"

"No, no, I'm fine." She waved him off and walked to the doorway. "Just tired. I'm in the guest room, right?"

"It's the room across from mine." He directed, "Second on the left."

"Okay. Good night."

Shikamaru watched her climb the stairs, before turning back to the sink. For a moment he considered finishing the dishes before shoving the idea out of his head. He had a long day ahead of him, and he'd never been one for voluntarily doing chores anyway.

Shoving his hands into his pockets he reviewed everything he knew about the coming conflict. Lightning Country was determined to take Konoha down and had the equipment to do so. Shikamaru was equally determined not to let that happen. Their motive was shaky, in his opinion. No country would risk angering a village as powerful as Konoha over something as trivial as natural resources. He would have to ask Ino to repeat what Inoichi had said verbatim. If needed, he'd assemble a team to further investigate the matter. Did they have time? There was so much to be arranged…

Konoha wouldn't fall, not on his watch.

As Shikamaru walked past the table the shogi board caught his eye and he paused momentarily before moving one delicate pawn piece forward, the first move he'd played in many long months.

Let the game begin.


	4. Gather the Forces

_Author's Notes: Hello again, sorry for the brief hiatus, but Harry Potter demanded my immediate attention and who's to say I can resist? Gosh what a wonderful series, I would gush more about it but I refuse to spoil the book for anyone. Anyway, to those who reviewed: thank you so much! I've been a bit down lately so it's always nice logging on and reading what you have to say. This chapter is for jacksparrow589 by the way, your analysis is great to read! Everything is not as it seems in Konoha, but is Shikamaru going to figure it out in time? We'll see..._

_Disclaimer: If I had to choose between owning Harry Potter and owning Naruto I would choose the latter, but I don't think I should hold my breath for either._

**Gather the Forces**

"_In a moment, everything can change. Feel the wind on your shoulders...can you hear it calling?" – 'Fly' by Hilary Duff_

The meeting had already been in session for an hour by the time the sun rose over the mountains surrounding Konoha. Chairs ringed the perimeter of the Hokage's office, each occupied by a tense shinobi or kunoichi. The conversation volume rose and fell depending on the point being argued. At this moment a small wiry ANBU, crane mask firmly in place was disagreeing with Morino Ibiki.

"There's no reason to doubt the truth in the suggestion that Kumogakure is launching an invasion. Yamanaka and Aburame must have pretty well convinced if Inoichi would chance giving his daughter a time scale for the attack. That said, we've only got two days left, we have to act now!"

Several of his fellow ANBU voiced their agreement. An equal number seated nearer Hatake Kakashi remained uncommitted. There seemed no clear majority on any of topics they had discussed. Normally mellow shinobi were now extremely argumentative, the prospect of their own home coming under fire banishing any tendency for compromise or openness to discussion.

"I'm not arguing that Lightning Country isn't invading." Ibiki countered. "They're coming, there's no doubt in my mind. However, as Nara pointed out earlier, the motive Yamanaka suggested doesn't even begin to justify these methods. For that matter, how did Lightning Country, a nation with fairly low development capacity, come up with a weapon of this degree of finesse? As I'm sure you're all aware, the ability to produce a serum of this quality is only possessed by a handful of villages, and Kumogakure is _not_ one of them."

This launched a whole new wave of discussion, which the ANBU had to shout over. "Even if you and Nara are right, the fact remains that we are two days from invasion and we don't have any good way to fight back! What are we supposed to do, wait to be poisoned? Quarantine the village and hope that someone survives his neighbors to fight off the Cloud nin?"

"That is not what I…"

"Enough!" Tsunade stood from her desk. Striding to the center of the room, she rotated, fixing each occupant with a gaze as considering as it was deadly. "I will _not_ have this village fall apart from petty bickering. Not when that is exactly what our enemies are hoping will happen."

That shut them up. For them to play directly into Kumogakure's hands was unthinkable, Konoha pride wouldn't stand for it. Tapping long fingers to her temples, Tsunade restarted the conversation, hoping for a more measured discussion.

"Both of you are right." The ANBU and Ibiki both sat back, partially mollified. "What we are facing here is a threat that is very straightforward on the surface: Kumogakure is set to invade us in less than 48 hours with a weapon for which we have no effective counterattack. On the other hand, as Morino and Nara have pointed out, the motives for an attack of this size and risk are not clear. It's been mentioned Kumogakure may need our land and resources to counter the growth of Akatsuki, personally I don't agree with that line of reasoning."

"So what do you suggest?" Hyuuga Hiashi motioned to the assembled nin. "All of Konoha's resources are ready for mobilization." He paused, pale eyes picking apart the woman in front of him. "I assume you have a plan?"

She didn't, not concretely, but she wasn't about to let him know that. What Tsunade had going for her was her wealth of experience and her authority as Hokage. Unfortunately the power of paranoia and fear was often enough to trump common sense. When even the reticent Hyuuga leader began to snap, the rest of Konoha's population couldn't be far behind.

"Send out a small team to intercept the invasion force." Every eye in the room fixed itself on Nara Shikamaru where he slouched in his chair. "In a worst-case scenario they can gather information, determine the scale and threat of the attack, and report back to Konoha. If we're lucky though, they can destroy the serum before it's used and tilt the odds in our favor. If the team leaves by mid-day there's a chance a small task force can split off and make its way to Kumogakure to determine if there are larger powers at work, as we suspect."

Tsunade was amused and relieved, but let only the former emotion show. "Sounds like you've got it all figured out Nara. Have you decided who you want on your team?"

"Yes." He handed her a neatly printed list by way of Shizune. "I've spoken to several of them already, if you approve we can be ready for departure by noon."

The Hokage scanned the list before passing it around so the others in the room could read it. "The majority of the individuals you've requested are long-range attack specialists."

He nodded, watching as his list made its way around the room. "Considering the nature of the serum, those whose attacks are of a long-range nature will be considerably more protected against exposure to the hormones. Barring the possibility that the serum can be released into the air, which I doubt."

"As do I." Tsunade frowned, one painted nail coming to rest on her chin. "You've included two kunoichi whose attacks aren't long-range by nature, won't they pose a risk to the team?"

"I need Sakura for her medical skills." Shikamaru argued, "I refuse to do the mission without her, the risk would be too great."

"And the other?"

"She's necessary for the team I plan on sending to Kumogakure."

"Very well." The Hokage checked to make sure the list had made its way around the entire room. "Unless someone has an objection I will send out summons to those individuals listed." She made sure to catch Gaara of the Sand's eye in order to measure his feelings on the proposal.

Her effort failed, anyone attempting to read Gaara's emotions would be better served by flat-out asking him. Gaara's emotional responses were about as forthcoming as his smiles. He didn't seem to be upset with Nara's idea, Tsunade decided to take this as a good sign.

"They're all chuunin!" Protested the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan, her canine growled in agreement. "Tsunade, surely ANBU would be better."

"All the ANBU and jounin will be needed to protect Konoha." Shikamaru nodded towards his list. "If lack of seniority is what you're objecting to, Temari of the Sand is ranked jounin."

"I will vouch for Temari's ability." Gaara intoned. A few in the room had been unaware of his attendance up until this moment and jumped at his voice, startled. Despite his rumored reformation, the Kazekage still had that effect on people.

"You plan on taking Aburame Shino?" A dark-skinned nin asked. "Haven't his bugs already proven susceptible to the hormone serum?"

Shikamaru faced the man. "Shino assured me he'd fixed the problem. He's confident he can isolate and dispose of any bugs carrying the serum before they return to his body."

Once again those present in the room turned to their neighbors, debating the pros and cons of Shikamaru's proposal. Some were not happy with the idea of entrusting such an important mission to relatively untried youngsters, but _what_ exactly, asked the others, did they suggest be done instead? The head of the Inuzuka stood abruptly, her dog following her out of the room. The departure prompted several new debates. Would the Inuzuka clan help Konoha in the upcoming battle? If not, what would Tsunade do about such blatant disloyalty?

Tsunade was unperturbed, she'd talk to Inuzuka later, the woman would come around. Waiting until the conversations died down around her, she nodded to Shikamaru, summoning him to her side. "Unless there are any other detractors, I will send out the summons to those on Nara's proposed team immediately."

"Why not include Uzumaki Naruto?" Asked a voice from the back. "His attacks aren't long-range, but the boy is powerful. He would be more useful on the team than to us waiting in Konoha."

"No." Shikamaru's head shook back and forth emphatically. "Naruto can't have anything to do with this team. In fact, I'd suggest sending him as far away from Konoha as possible. Quickly."

This was news even to Tsunade, an eyebrow raised, she asked what was on everyone else's mind.

"Why?"

"Because," It was not Shikamaru who answered the question, but Morino Ibiki, who stood and regarded them all dourly, his scars glowing eerily in the early morning light. "Nara and I agree that Uzumaki Naruto might be the whole reason Kumogakure is invading Konoha in the first place."

The room exploded into shouts.

* * *

"Where is it?!" Papers and scrolls flew every which way or, more accurately, were tossed to the far corners of the room as one frustrated kunoichi tore through the large bookcase standing against the wall. A large scroll which until now had been precariously balanced on a high shelf crashed down, landing directly on top of a sandal-clad foot.

"Ow!" Kicking the offending scroll aside, Ino cursed under her breath. She was sure she'd regret making this mess later, but at the moment time was of an essence. Scanning the dilapidated shelves yet again, a low curse was uttered. She knew the Atama Musubu scroll was in here somewhere, she'd seen her father reading it before, but where had he put it? A glance at the wall clock told her she had only three minutes left.

All would not be lost if she couldn't find the scroll, indeed, no one was even aware the technique existed apart from Yamanaka clan members and the people they used it on. So closely guarded was the jutsu that Inoichi hadn't even been aware the ancient method had been preserved until his own father had revealed the secret on his deathbed. However, Ino knew that Atama Musubu would come in handy for the rapidly approaching mission, the team would need all the help it they could get.

If only she could teach herself how to use it. .

Finally spotting the dusty green scroll in a far corner she grabbed it triumphantly. The initial joy in the discovery faded somewhat as she unrolled the parchment and scanned a few lines. Indeed, the look on her face could be more accurately described as trepidation.

Atama Musubu hadn't been hidden away for decades for just any reason.

The technique was used to trap others in their own minds, with a result that was similar to the effect of the sharingan, but free of the limits of time or chakra control. Atama Musubu ensnared victims in their own memories, as chosen by the Yamanaka in control of the jutsu. The only way to escape, aside from being released by your attacker, was to confront that with which you were bound. Since the Yamanakas had access to every humiliating, painful, and degrading thought housed in the mind, some people remained trapped indefinitely.

Those who succeeded in breaking the jutsu had varying reactions. The last known victim of the Atama Musubu had committed suicide months after his escape from what was known as the 'Yamanaka curse'. The skill was one of the most formidable developed by her family, originally intended for use in disciplining dissenters of the Yamanaka house, it had been adapted for the battle field, its relative ease of launch once shintenshin was deployed making it an effective weapon. Extremely powerful if performed correctly, it was not discovered until later that the Atama Musubu had a fairly significant drawback:

After repeated use of the jutsu, the user inevitably succumbed to madness.

Ino was not unaware of the hazards associated with the family technique, neither was she foolish enough to consider herself fully capable of controlling such a volatile jutsu. After much reflection however, she had concluded that desperate times called for desperate measures. She'd been more than surprised when Shikamaru had chosen her as one of the six on the team sent to intercept the invasion force and she'd be damned if she held anyone back.

Blue eyes roved hungrily over the faded characters preserved on the parchment. From all appearances, Atama Musubu would not be a major challenge to learn. To control it would be a battle, but launching the attack would be relatively simple. A bit caught up in her own bravado, Ino tossed the scroll from hand to hand, considering when and where it would be best to practice. She'd try to talk Sakura or Shikamaru into helping her. A fierce smile crossed the kunoichi's features and the scroll was jammed into the small, utilitarian backpack she carried.

Time to go.

The housetops of Konoha flashed by in a blur as the girl sprinted from roof to roof, her sandals touching down only briefly before she rose into what almost appeared to be flight. As her teachers had noted during her pre-genin days, Yamanaka Ino was undoubtedly the fastest of all the kunoichi in her year, quick on her feet and seemingly unhampered by the limiting factors of gravity. It was a useful attribute for a kunoichi and her prowess was duly noted. With her arms flung behind her, the wind whistling past her ears, Ino felt free, untroubled by the events of the past day. The sensation was glorious enough that she almost forgot just what she was rushing towards:

That which could arguably become the most dangerous battle of her entire career.

Nearing the front gates of Konoha, she smiled as she spotted the familiar profile of Shikamaru, his back towards her, arms folded as always. She'd hoped to arrive a bit early in order to show him the scroll and explain the new technique. With his smarts and her talent they might be able to devise a new way in which to tackle the situation. Atama Musubu was a trump card, one which not even her teammates were expecting. This made it all the more valuable, for it became an attack which their enemies had no chance of analyzing.

Which in turn meant that the Kumogakure nin had no premeditated way to counter such a move.

And if, simultaneously, it cast Ino in the spotlight currently enjoyed by that smug little sand kunoichi, so be it.

Not that this was her ultimate goal in digging up Atama Musubu. Definitely not.

Well….maybe a little.

Slowing to a stop on the overhang of a building bordering the entrance area to Konoha, Ino realized that Shikamaru was not as alone as she had originally guessed. He was, in fact, speaking in low tones to an individual hidden from her line of sight by the very overhang on which she perched. Straining to make out the conversation, Ino's eyebrows raised in surprise as she recognized the measured voice.

The person standing directly underneath her was none other than Hyuuga Neji.

Neji's name had not been one of the six on the list sent out by the Hokage, under normal circumstances this would be seen as not only a puzzling omission, but as a possible slight. You would be hard-pressed to find more well-rounded fighters than the members of the Hyuuga clan. Neji, a jounin and proven squad leader, was seen as one of the best shinobi to come out of Konoha in decades. Virtually unbeatable in a one-on-one battle, he had in recent years displayed uncanny leadership prowess, which was second only to that displayed by Nara Shikamaru.

It was, interestingly enough, just these qualities that had led Shikamaru to leave Hyuuga Neji off of his carefully chosen team.

"Neji isn't a long-range fighter." He'd explained to her the night before, having come into the guest room where she slept in order to rehash his list while she listened. "We can't risk anyone getting too close to carriers of the serum."

"Neji's defense is impenetrable." She'd argued past a yawn. "He wouldn't _let_ anyone get near him."

"It's not impenetrable." Shikamaru had corrected, not bothering to elaborate. "It's failed him before."

Ino had been surprised by this. She knew, as everyone did, about the immense injuries inflicted on the boy during the attempt to retrieve Sasuke but had credited this to his relative inexperience at the time. From the way Shikamaru spoke about it though, the Hyyuga eyes might not be as infallible as they seemed.

"Even if it failed him…" she'd ventured, "I bet Neji has learned how to counter the problem. He's not a slacker like you after all."

Shikamaru had shaken his head, ignoring her pointed comment. "I won't risk it." He said finally, apparently satisfied with his decision to exclude the Hyuuga from his plans. "Including him would be too dangerous

This had prompted another yawn from Ino. "How so?"

Shikamaru had cocked his head slightly to one side, considering her with dark eyes that made her heart beat just that much faster. "Think about it Ino. If the Cloud nin managed to infect Neji with that serum, who among us would be able to stop him?"

That had effectively shut her up.

Now, Ino settled her weight more evenly on the tiles, leaning forward in time to catch the tail end of Neji's sentence.

"…be sure that all will return safely."

"I will do everything in my power to bring everyone home." Shikamaru replied, "They're all capable of completing this mission. That's why I chose them."

"There's a difference between being capable and being the only option."

Ino heard Shikamaru sigh, imagined him shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "I _need_ Tenten on this team Neji, you know as well as I do that there is no one else in Konoha who has even half a chance of taking out that serum from a safe distance."

Ino suppressed a gasp. So this whole discussion was about _Tenten_? The revelation both surprised and amused her. On one hand, it was about time Neji got his head on straight regarding his female teammate. It had been common knowledge that she harbored a deep crush on him for years. The time had more than come for him to acknowledge that. However, Neji's attitude about his teammate participating in this mission more than irritated her. What was it about these pompous genius types that made them think that all the girls around them were incapable of taking care of themselves? Tenten was an amazing kunoichi, and though a little worry was perfectly healthy, Neji was crossing a line by meeting with her mission leader behind her back.

Ino was so wrapped up in her thoughts she almost didn't notice the silence that had fallen between the two boys she was spying on. She hadn't heard anything that suggested a successful compromise had been reached, so for them to have stopped talking meant…

"Would you rather I pulled you off the eaves, Yamanaka, or would you prefer coming down by yourself?"

Deciding the latter proposition was a far better choice, Ino leaped lightly to the ground, steeling herself not to blush under the accusing, colorless gaze of Hyuuga Neji.

"Ino, again?!" Shikamaru ran a hand over his ponytail in exasperation. "Is it even _possible_ for you to get through a day without sticking your nose into other people's business?"

"Spying is a desirable ninja trait." Ino replied smugly, nonetheless edging away from Neji should he decide to bring a Gentle Fist into the conversation.

"Meddling is not." The Hyuuga genius' voice became, if anything, colder than usual. "You'd be well advised to keep what you heard to yourself."

"Oh, so Tenten has no right to know that you're attempting to jeopardize her career as a kunoichi?" Ino spat, not backing down in the least. "I think Tenten would be very interested to hear what I just did and trust me Hyuuga…you will be in some deep shit."

A rough hand landed on her shoulder, surprising Ino enough that she forgot what she had been about to say. "Ino won't say anything." Shikamaru assured Neji, shooting her a look that was a dangerous combination of anger and irritation. "You also have my promise that I will not put Tenten into any situation I am not confident she can handle. That's the best I can do."

"Very well." The two shinobi regarded each other for a moment and Ino felt as if perhaps some invisible pact had been laid down without her knowing it. "The Hyuuga clan will be in charge of arming Konoha." Neji told Shikamaru, "I will make sure that all eventualities are covered."

"Good, thank you." A curt nod and Neji was gone, vanished over the rooftops that Ino had so recently traversed. The two of them watched him go, Ino silently wondering how long it would take Shikamaru to reprimand her for her indiscretion.

It didn't take long.

"Ino, what were you _thinking_?" Shikamaru spun her around to face him, exasperation clearly written across his face. "Good lord, the _last_ thing I need right now is for Hyuuga Neji to be angry about how I'm dealing with Tenten. She's essential to this mission! She's the lynchpin!"

"So even though you agree that she's the only one capable of carrying this off, you'd let him degrade her like that?" Ino asked, she resisted shrugging off his hand. Having it on her shoulder was nice, or would have been if he wasn't so mad at her.

"He's not degrading her Ino, Neji is just worried." Shikamaru frowned, staring in the direction the Hyuuga had taken. "It's not logical or even helpful, but I can't say I blame him, considering his situation."

"His situation? What, the fact that he's anal retentive?" Her anger abated somewhat at the solemn expression on her former teammate's face. "What is it?"

"Cloud nin from Kumogakure killed his father." Shikamaru told her. "I think that's just cause for a little extra paranoia."

Oops.

The embarrassment that swamped her was worse than the time she'd failed at seducing that horrid Elvis-wannabe. She _knew_ that the Hyuuga clan had a lasting vendetta against nin from the Cloud village. So how had she been so boneheaded as to miss the connection? Of course Neji would be worried about sending Tenten into battle against Kumogakure. Even more so since he wouldn't be there himself to avenge what surely was the greatest wrong done to him or his clan in years.

And of course, she'd mucked up the whole thing by clambering in with all of her brilliant ranting.

Was it even possible to apologize to a Hyuuga, she wondered. Or did they prefer to inflict physical pain before forgiving you? After all this was over she may just find out, and either way it wouldn't be pretty.

"You're early." Shikamaru released her, stepping back to check the clock tower in the center of the village. "Is there a reason, or are you just determined to make me regret bringing you along?"

"No!" Ino procured the scroll from her backpack quickly, flourishing it in his face. "I wanted to show you this."

He took it from her, beginning to open it before she stopped him.

"Don't read it!" Her father would kill her if he awoke to find the family secrets had become common knowledge.

"So this is a new jutsu." Shikamaru muttered, "What does it do?"

"It's called Atama Musubu." She told him, watching interest come to life in his eyes as he deciphered the name. "And it might be just what we need to fight Kumogakure."

* * *

Far to the north, the door leading into a dark inner room banged open to admit an over-eager man, his eyes gleaming in triumph.

"It's just as you said, Kumogakure has made its move."

"Couldn't you have knocked first?" With an irritated huff, a female sitting on the lone chair rose, brushing invisible dust particles off of her clothing. "I don't think you could be more annoying if you _tried_."

"Oh shut up." The first speaker told her. "It's not as if I was _interrupting_ anything, now was I?"

Before she could lambaste him for his insolence, the third figure in the room spoke. The tone of his voice revealed nothing of how he felt, "With Kumogakure beginning their offensive, Konoha will have mobilized."

"Sure enough." The boy flung himself on top of the old wooden desk, smirking at the girl. "Sent out a team around noon today, according to reports."

"And the Kyuubi?"

"That's where you were wrong." White teeth flashed in the darkness. "There's been no sign of him so far, it's almost as if the Leaf nin know to keep him under wraps."

"Impossible!" The girl sputtered. "They wouldn't be that far-sighted would they?"

The three of them pondered this for a moment, the first two shooting nervous glances at the third. Abruptly, he stood, and they mimicked his action.

"Nara has anticipated the move." Said the man who was obviously their leader, "We head for Konoha now."

"B..but the others, we're not ready!" Protested the girl, scrambling after him as he walked to the door. "We need more time!"

"There is no time, meet me at the village entrance in fifteen minutes."

"R…roger that." Watching him go, the girl whirled on the first boy, anger lighting up her eyes. "Couldn't you have _waited_? Would another ten minutes have been too much to ask?!"

"Just following orders." He shrugged, gathering his weapon from where it stood in the corner, he strode past her. "I would hurry up if I were you. Fifteen minutes and we leave without you, not that I would mind."

"Bastard!" She shouted after him, but heeded his advice and began dismantling the various stations set up in the room. "It's always Konoha isn't it?" She muttered, shuffling maps and papers into manageable piles. "I _hope_ Kumogakure takes them down, it'd make _my_ life easier." Grabbing the last of the valuable documents she scanned the room, nodded in satisfaction, and left to catch up with her teammates.


	5. That Which is Hidden

_Author's Notes: Greetings all! Well here's the next installment of 'Burning Bright' which was, surprisingly, hard for me to write this time around. I was dreading the final scene I think, I truly didn't want to go through with it. Ah well, it was necessary. In answer to jacksparrow589's question, 'musubu' is the Japanese verb 'to bind', thanks for asking! For those of you who wandered over from 'Flowers in the Field', welcome! Please read and review, I eat up reviews like a starving person. Things are getting darker for our Konoha ninja, when they're forced to make tough decisions will they choose what's right? Or what's easy?_

_Disclaimer: If Naruto was mine it would mean I had even a modicrum of drawing skills, which I don't. My sister got all of those._

**That Which is Hidden**

"_We are in a mess, a danger zone. What will happen next? You never know." – 'Danger Zone' by Gwen Stefani_

Shikamaru's six man cell found the invasion force late in the day. As the sun descended over the tall mountain peaks in the west, fires from a large encampment became visible several miles off the well-traveled path they'd been shadowing. Directing each other with furtive hand motions and whispered signals, the shinobi and kunoichi fanned out, gauging the size of the attack group as they got closer.

Shino's bugs located scouts 150 meters out from where they could estimate the bulk of men and weapons were located. Calling a halt, Shikamaru gathered his team in the safety of a large juniper tree, taking advantage of the strong, leafy bows to hide their group.

"Tell me what you know." He ordered them, double checking to make sure everyone had made it back. "I want only facts for now, we can speculate later."

"It's quite a large force." Shino reported, "With at least 50 nin located in the center of the camp, not including scouts in the count."

"There are a minimum of traps set up around the border of the area." Tenten chimed in, "That's to be expected if they plan on leaving the area quickly."

"The camp formation is roughly diamond shaped." Temari cut an outline into the tree bark at their feet. "As Aburame mentioned, the most concentrated force is in the center. I wasn't able to hover long enough to see more than that."

"Good." Shikamaru turned to the girl next to him. "Ino, what were you able to see through the hawk?"

"I can confirm what Shino and Temari reported." Ino tilted her head to one side, "Something to add though, in addition to the expected tent and campfires, they seem to have set up several holding pens. If I had to guess I'd say they were close to 5 meters on a side."

This was news to Shikamaru, could Kumogakure have brought some sort of animal or elemental power? "To hold what?" He asked, directing Ino to add the holding pens to Temari's hewn diagram.

"I don't know." She shook her head. "They were being constructed as I flew over, I didn't have the chance to see them filled." She sketched three small squares in a triangle at the center of their picture of the camp.

Shino further filled the illustration by adding the location of the main tent which, as Shikamaru well knew, was meant to hold Kumogakure's staging area. The tent was located directly in the middle of the camp which, though easily defended, was so mind-bogglingly simple, Shikamaru had to wonder if perhaps they were mocking him. True, they could easily surround the nexus and use sheer man-power to defend those within…

But in this day and age, were there really still those who believed in strength in numbers? Surely someone in Kumogakure would expect him to come after them with a long-range attack squad. Perhaps, armed with the serum, they were confident that they could combat even a distance-based maneuver. Had they set up defenses Tenten had missed? Or…heaven forbid, were they indeed planning on releasing the serum into the air?

This seemed an unlikely possibility. Disregarding the fact that they would have no way of directing the path of the serum accurately once it evaporated, such a technique required instruments that were not present in the camp they were observing. He'd kept an eye out for diffusers and fans of any sort but had seen none. Barring the chance that Kumogakure had gotten their hands on a large group of wind-users, there was no way they would be able to succeed with such a method of distribution.

How, then, were they transporting the serum? And in what way would they use it?

If only Yamanaka Inoichi had had time to tell Ino the way in which he'd been infected before forcing her from his mind… It was worthless wishing for something that obviously couldn't be rectified, Shikamaru turned back to the diagram on the tree.

The holding pens bothered him, because what invasion force traveled with an entity they couldn't control? Kumogakure was not one of the more elite villages to be sure, but even the youngest of shinobi knew that a ninja team was only as strong as its weakest element. To include something that required such primitive means of control into a plan as intricate as an invasion was foolhardy.

Which left two possibilities: Either the Cloud nin were fools and could be treated as such, or they had yet another trick up their sleeve. One which could play out in an undoubtedly deadly manner. It was best not to underestimate them, by using such a simple set-up, Shikamaru had to assume they were hoping to hide something much more complicated. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't yet figured out what.

"Sakura, do you have anything to add?"

The medic nin brushed short pink hair back out of her eyes, nodding. "In surveying the landscape you can see they've set up with one side of the camp bordering the river that runs through this valley, right about here." She dragged a kunai along the outer edge of their rapidly expanding diagram. "I assume this is merely for the purpose of gathering water and supplying a natural defense, but it's worth noting."

"Hmm." Camping along rivers was not unusual by any means. It made the camp easier to find, certainly, but as they'd already observed, Kumogakure didn't seem particularly worried about concealing their presence. This bothered him.

Had they been meant to find the Cloud nin all along?

"What game are you playing?" He muttered. Knowing that everyone's eyes were fixed on him, he looked back towards the enemy camp. Instantly, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Something had changed in the camp while they'd deliberated. Frowning, he leaped up to the tree canopy, the other five following him.

"What is it?" Ino asked, she and Sakura shared the same tree branch, each scanning the tree tops for what had upset Shikamaru. "What do you see?"

Tenten was the first to spot what had prompted Shikamaru's uneasiness. "The fires are out." She said, sucking in a breath. "That means…"

"Those weren't cooking fires." Temari finished for her. "Damn it."

The thin smoke trails that had led them to the site in the first place were already extinguished. This made no sense, since darkness covered the appearance of smoke, making it safer to light and maintain a fire. For the Cloud nin to extinguish their campfires at the very time of day when it would be safe to keep them meant only one thing:

The smoke had been meant to signal someone else.

"A secondary force?" Shino guessed, "Meant to rendezvous with this one at a point closer to Konoha?"

"No." The evidence was beginning to mirror just what he and Morino Ibiki had suspected. "We would have seen a response of some sort, but these were the only smoke trails in the sky. Did anyone else see another set of smoke signals?"

Negative responses all around, there could be no doubt then.

They had to move, and quickly.

"Shino, Ino, come with me now. Tenten I want you ready to deploy in the next twenty minutes." Tenten nodded, disappearing into the leaves as the rest of them descended to the ground. "Temari, Sakura, keep your eyes on the sky and the scouts. Let me know the instant anything happens."

They scattered. Mind racing, Shikamaru led Shino and Ino deeper into the forest, planning out the orders he would give them. He would be sending them to Kumogakure now, rather than tomorrow morning as he had planned. At this point he was sure that the answers to why Kumogakure was launching this attack lay in the distant village. The person in charge of this invasion was not housed in the tent pitched on the campground just beyond him. No, the real power behind this offensive was hidden in the Cloud village. Briefly, he considered going with them before dismissing the idea all-together. As the leader he needed to be at the front lines with the majority of his team.

He had to trust Shino and Ino to complete this part of the mission alone.

"You will leave for Kumogakure immediately." Shikamaru told them, "If you travel fast you should arrive on the outskirts in five hours or so."

"What are we looking for?" Shino's sunglasses caught the dying rays of the sun and reflected them back into the sky. "Can you give us an idea of what to expect?"

"The men or women masterminding this attack will be somewhere in that village." Shikamaru watched as both of them rifled through their packs, discarding unnecessary items and double checking essentials. "Use extreme caution, I don't want either of you to be seen."

"Who do you believe is behind this?" Shino asked. "I'd like to know, even if it's just a theory."

A burst of laughter from the direction of the camp made them all jump. "Watch for any nin or layman we've suspected in having dealings with the Akatsuki in the past." Shikamaru scanned the surrounding area warily. "I have a hunch that this whole operation is not to counteract the Akatsuki, but, in fact, to strengthen them."

"How?" Ino asked, she tightened her ponytail, adjusted the netting at her elbows. "Why would Akatsuki hide behind Kumogakure?"

"I think they're after Naruto's kyuubi." Shino and Ino moved to stand side-by-side, considering his words. "Past attempts at direct kidnapping have failed, they need a different approach, in this case the corresponding fall of Konoha would only be a plus."

"Should we take them out?" Ino asked, a fierce smile creasing her lips. "If we assassinate the head of operations, the whole plant withers at the root."

He vacillated on answering the question. To assassinate the leader would, as Ino had stated, solve the larger problem. However, assassinations were wrought with danger, and if they failed the results could be disastrous. "Only if the opportunity is there." He said finally. "Do not, I repeat, do _not_ go looking for a way in if there isn't one, Ino. You and Shino are there to gather information and bring it back to me, not risk death."

"Fine." Despite her affirmative answer, he couldn't be sure she intended to comply.

"Shino, you call the shots." He told the quieter of the two. "Ino, follow his orders, if you don't, I'll hear about it eventually."

"Okay! No need to beat it to death." Ino rolled her eyes. "We'll succeed where our parents failed Shikamaru, you can count on that."

"Right." A slightly sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. How could he be sure he wasn't repeating the Hokage's mistake? Ino was correct, he had formed the same team Tsunade had to spy on Kumogakure, albeit one generation younger. Shikamaru had reasoned that Shino and Ino were more informed than their parents had been upon entering the village and therefore could steer well clear of past mistakes. There weren't many other options available to him in forming an effective espionage team. The children of the Aburame and Yamanaka clans were the obvious choice.

He could only pray this reasoning was correct.

"We're leaving now." Shino turned, Ino at his side. "You have the packet I gave you?"

"In my pocket." Shikamaru patted the small paper bundle he'd secured on his upper vest. It contained a scent that could be tracked by Shino's insects. Should anything go terribly wrong with the spy team Shino could, as a last resort, send his insects to find Shikamaru and relay any message he was unable to bring in person.

Hopefully that wouldn't be necessary. Shikamaru shifted his weight from one foot to the other as they walked away. Ino's ponytail swung jauntily, her steps light and confident, the stride almost as familiar to Shikamaru as his own. The two Konoha nin were vanishing into the woods and before Shikamaru could stop himself, he called out to the girl.

"Ino!"

"Yeah?" She threw him a questioning glance over one shoulder. "Miss me already?"

"Good luck." He told her. Mindful of her scorn at Neji's worry for Tenten, he left the rest unsaid. His words seemed to have the desired effect, because she smiled back at him.

"We won't need it." She told him with a wink, "But…thanks, you too."

Shikamaru stood there until Ino's blond hair was swallowed up by the encroaching darkness.

* * *

Tenten was able to silence the two scouts patrolling the southern border of the camp easily. Man was a resilient creature, true, but in Tenten's experience there were very few individuals capable of withstanding a kunai to the throat. The two hapless scouts that stood between her and the main camp were no exceptions.

Moving stealthily from branch to branch, Tenten triple checked her scrolls and primary weapons. There was no room for mistake at this point. It was up to her to identify, target, and eliminate the carrier or carriers of the serum. Creeping closer, she could hear the muffled murmur of conversations, the dulled footsteps of those accustomed to moving silently. The sight was familiar to her, in her expeditions with Team Gai she'd seen countless other setups of this sort. Each and every one had fallen to her metal, and often not quietly. Until the moment her twin dragons roared into the night though, this camp would cloak itself in the quiet of stealth. After that, all bets were off.

Tenten didn't anticipate too many surprises from this evening. Those participating in surprise missions hardly ever expected to be surprised themselves. Hugging the shadows, Tenten moved forward.

The wild screaming from the center of the camp caught her completely off-guard.

Moving ever more cautiously forward, Tenten reached the outer circle of the camp, pausing to determine her course of action. A lone kunoichi was approaching her hiding place and she made her decision quickly. The escalating screaming covered the gasp of surprise which was all the sound Tenten allowed before she killed her opponent with a quick thrust of cold steel. As she slipped into the other girl's clothing, covering the lower half of her face with the dark bandanna the kunoichi had worn, Tenten pursed her lips. The kill had almost been too easy, her victim poorly trained. Without the serum Kumogakure would stand no chance against Konoha.

So why risk an invasion?

Knowing it would be only a matter of time before the body was discovered, Tenten moved rapidly towards the heightening commotion. Her teammates' descriptions of the camp had been accurate and she had no trouble navigating the darkened terrain. There were hardly any shinobi that she could see, where was the larger force Shino had mentioned? Her question was answered as she rounded the main tent, which, she noted as she passed, was empty.

A huge crowd was gathered around the holding pens. Ino had been unable to determine their purpose and Tenten had noted how much this seemed to bother Shikamaru. It was worth investigating. Holding her breath, she slouched her way to the edge of the crowd, drawing no more than a curious glance from her 'fellow' Cloud nin. "Come to see the action?" One asked her. "It's just started."

She limited her response to a noncommittal grunt, having received plenty of lessons on the skill from Neji. It seemed to work, or perhaps whatever was happening in the pens was distracting enough that the nin wasn't about to question her odd behavior. The people standing in front of her shifted and Tenten was presented with a clear view of what was taking place.

Inside the holding pens were people.

Not shinobi, she noted, bile rising in her throat, but villagers, most likely from Kumogakure itself. Men, women, children: all were bound hand and foot, stuffed into the small space between the rails like animals. There were close to one hundred individuals trapped in the pens, by her estimate. If they were, as Tenten suspected, all Kumogakure residents, there would not be many left in the village for Ino and Shino to investigate. The screaming was coming from the pen furthest on her left and moving forward a few steps, Tenten gritted her teeth as the full picture became clear.

Groups of shinobi moved amongst the trapped villagers, syringes in hand. As Tenten watched, a large fellow garbed mostly in fur grabbed a young boy, stabbing the needle into his neck. Almost immediately the youth became rigid, eyes rolling back in his head before refocusing in a look of blind rage. A hoarse, animal yell tore itself from his throat and he bucked against his restraints, rearing back and forth with near super-human strength. The large shinobi moved back immediately, empty syringe held in front of him as if it could provide some sort of protection.

"Limited contact, remember!" A tall kunoichi shouted to her compatriots, as they moved on to new victims. "The rest of you, stay away from the pens!" Her subordinates nodded in understanding, moving cautiously to the adjoining enclosure. Tenten was unsure of why the woman had given that particular order, perhaps the serum could be spread through body fluids? Maybe they were just wary of the violent soldiers they were creating? There was one thing she could be sure of however…

Tenten had found Kumogakure's method of carrying the serum.

The shinobi around her were silent, not jeering or protesting, indeed they seemed almost resigned. What was happening here was unthinkable, to change defenseless, untrained laypeople into mindless fighting machines was barbaric, completely against the good of a villages' economy or continued existence. But that was exactly what was happening and no one was lifting a finger in protest. They all stared, mesmerized by the events unfolding in front of them. Not willing to linger any longer, Tenten backed away from the group and ran for the forest.

She had to tell Shikamaru what was happening. Now.

The dark trees welcomed her as she sprang up into their upper branches. Tearing the covering off of her mouth and nose, Tenten ran for the point where Shikamaru had told her he'd be waiting. They'd arranged for her to report back with what she'd found before acting, but she had never expected bringing the sort of news that now permeated her thoughts. A flash of white canvas against the shadows was all the warning she got before a blast of chakra-enhanced wind ripped through the foliage around her.

Dropping out of the path of Temari's attack quickly, Tenten flung a shuriken in the direction of her attacker, more out of spite than from a need to defend herself. "It's _me_!" She shouted, fighting hard not to add something more vulgar. Temari's defense was necessary and Tenten understood it, but old grudges died hard and the one she'd harbored since her first chuunin exams was no exception. Tenten deeply resented wind users.

"So it is." Temari soared up on her fan, fully on-guard. "Why," she asked, after taking in the weapon mistress' appearance, "are you wearing a Cloud nin uniform?"

"I had to get into the camp." Tenten told her, pulling off the rest of her disguise, she nodded in thanks as the Suna delegate shredded the evidence. "Where's Shikamaru? I really need to talk to him."

"Here." The boy dropped down next to her. Sakura apparently, was out scouting. "You went into the camp. What did you find?"

"Ninja from Kumogakure are injecting the serum into their own _villagers_." She told him, watching as his eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure how exactly they mean to infect Konoha with it, but that's the way they're transporting it." Speaking rapidly she related the rest of what she had seen, including the Cloud nins' own reactions and attitude towards their captives. "What do you want me to do?" She asked finally.

"Kill the villagers." Temari said at once. "The disguise of the villagers as the vessels would be a brilliant disguise if Tenten hadn't seen them inject it. If the serum is contained in human hosts we can kill them here and be done with it."

"It would have been easy enough to identify those who were infected." Shikamaru disagreed. "We've seen what happened to Aburame Shibi, the symptoms are not easily overlooked. Why inject them now? They have another day's worth of travel time with a force this large in order to reach Konoha. Attack time will be tomorrow night at the earliest."

"They seem to be scared themselves." Tenten added. "As if they want nothing to do with these people, apart from the ones infecting them, they all kept their distance."

"This doesn't add up." Shikamaru stood up to pace, forehead deeply lined. "This is meant to look amateur, but I don't buy it. We're falling into a trap."

"What is it then?" Temari pushed him, "You say these moves are amateur, but that's what Kumogakure _is_. Up until this point there has never been reason to fear them, they've never had power. So they get their hands on a serum from somewhere and they let it go to their heads. They're making obvious mistakes that we can exploit. I think it's a mistake to over-think this."

Shikamaru shook his head, "There might be a back-up serum supply, or maybe this is what we're meant to see, but this does not feel right. None of those in charge here are planning this invasion, they're taking orders from someone smarter." He swung around to face the direction Shino and Ino had departed in an hour before. "There is someone or something in Kumogakure playing us for fools."

Tenten shifted nervously, unsure of whom to side with in this battle of minds. Her natural inclination was to think along the same lines as Temari, but Shikamaru was rarely wrong. She remembered the ease with which she'd killed the three cloud nin she'd encountered. If these were the ones Kumogakure entrusted the safety of the camp to, the rest of their forces could hardly be very skilled.

"You've sent Aburame and Yamanaka to investigate." Temari pointed out, "They can find out what's going on and report, but right now we don't have enough time to wait to hear back about what they find. If Tenten doesn't go in now, who knows when her next opportunity will be?"

"I need to know more about this serum and how they plan to use it. It almost seems as if _they_ aren't sure how to handle it." Shikamaru's pacing stopped and he speared Tenten with a look. "Tenten, what are your thoughts?"

She was caught off-guard, generally Lee or Neji made the decisions and she went along with them. Not mindlessly of course, Tenten was not stupid, but she was also not prone to plotting out her actions far in advance. This played to her strength of weapon-usage, which largely relied on trusting one's split-second instincts. At times this caught her flat-footed. An observer, Tenten could record and supply the clues, but strategizing on this level was outside of her comfort zone. In this situation, when both of her more logically-minded teammates seemed to be at odds, she was unprepared to offer an opinion. Sorting out her thoughts she took a deep breath.

"I have a good chance of attacking the infected villagers now. They're in a concentrated space, with limited mobility. I'm certain I can hit all of them." She paused, "If, as you say, there is a back-up serum, I think there is a good possibility that they will give away its location after my attack. In the panic it will be the first thing they defend. I can watch for it, and if I'm unable destroy it tonight, I will do so tomorrow before they reach Konoha."

"You must stop the serum from reaching Konoha at all costs." Temari stressed. "Without it, they are just shinobi. Unskilled ones, at that. Strip them of their weapon and it's a simple matter to destroy the men behind it."

Shikamaru was silent for a long moment. Tenten wondered what it was like inside his mind. She would have to ask Ino sometime. How many thoughts and possibilities must be weighed and debated there? How much extraneous information must be reviewed and thrown aside before he reached his conclusions? With the amount of pressure placed on his every word, how did he determine what was right and what was wrong?

And yet he came through time and time again. Even Neji endorsed Nara's intellect and, simply for that, Tenten would carry out his every order unquestioningly. Shikamaru opened his mouth, having finally come to a decision and she tensed, ready for whatever action he required.

"Kill the villagers." He said, his voice oddly strained. "Temari, you follow behind to monitor the shinobi's reactions."

"Right." Tenten nodded, laying hands on her scrolls. "I'll leave now."

"Whatever else they're planning," She heard Temari remark. "I think you made the right decision."

"I hope so." Shikamaru answered back. Tenten barely caught his next sentence as she faded into the trees, but the words made her heart drop to her toes. "If not, we are in deep trouble."

* * *

Shino and Ino reached Kumogakure around midnight, arriving on the outskirts of the village just as the clock tower rang the hour across the darkened rooftops. Shino stopped them in a small stand of trees on the eastern side of the main group of houses, in an area which seemed better shielded against observation from above than others. "I'll have my bugs search the far side of the village and the public buildings." He told her, voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think you can find someone to perform shintenshin on at this hour?"

"I hope so." Ino whispered back. Anyone wandering around such a desolate village at this time would look a bit suspicious. There was nothing for it though, they were working on a time scale and to wait for dawn would make them vulnerable to discovery. From her vantage point in a medium size cypress tree she squinted towards the darkened houses. "Maybe there's someone still awake…"

A sharp cry came from the small house to their right, drifting out an open window and Ino smiled. "There we go." Creeping closer she could hear the crying of a young child, followed by the low admonishing tones of who she assumed was the child's grandmother.

"No crying now Miyuki, you must be quiet or you'll wake the neighbors."

"Mommy! I want my mommy!"

"Mommy's not here right now." Crouched under the open window, Ino heard the old woman sigh. "How about you get yourself a drink of water from the well? That should calm you down."

"O…okay." The sniffles died down somewhat and Ino could hear the child begin to move out of the room. A quick glance confirmed that the family well was located several feet to her right on the border between two back gardens. The child would be coming this way, perfect. Slipping back to Shino where he stood in the trees, she rapidly whispered her plans to him.

"I'll take control of the girl who's going to come out to get a drink. That should work well enough."

"A child?" His sleeves were rolled back and she could see he'd already sent some of his bugs out to begin reconnaissance. "You'll be in a bad position if you have to do any fighting in a body that weak."

"I don't plan on having to." She rolled her shoulders, getting her body ready for an extended period of lying on the ground. "A child's body will be ideal for flitting between houses in the dark, if anyone stops me I'll tell them I was looking for my 'mommy'. From what I heard, the girl is missing her mother, the mom must be out tonight. It's easy enough to come up with an alibi for a kid this young."

"Alright, but be cautious." Shino came to stand behind her. "I'll guard your body until you return."

"Good." Both of them watched as a petite girl walked slowly towards the well Ino had spotted earlier. "I'm going in."

Ino waited until the child turned back from her nighttime drink before launching the justu. "Shintenshin no Jutsu." She muttered, her consciousness floating free of her body.

In a matter of seconds she had arrived in her new form. Children had little or no mental resistance to Yamanaka techniques, making it extremely easy to possess and control them. Little Miyuki was no different, after the initial scare of finding Ino in her mind, she subsided without much fuss. Curling up in a corner, she watched Ino work warily, her tears from earlier drying on her cheeks as she experienced the odd sensation of a stranger sorting through her most private memories.

Miyuki's mind was warm and inviting, resembling the tatami room of a house, complete with a long low table and wall hangings. Becoming accustomed to her new, smaller frame, Ino simultaneously sorted through the child's memory, searching for anything that might be of use. Recently, the girl had stored impressions of tall dark men, but, due to her youth, the images were blurred and distorted, not reliable enough to make a positive identification. The most vivid recollections Ino found revolved around Miyuki's mother who, it appeared, had been forcibly taken from the home several days previous, along with the father and two of Miyuki's older siblings. This brought Ino pause. Miyuki was obviously not from a ninja upbringing, her parents were carpenters by trade, but if the child's memories were to be believed, the rest of the family had possibly been abducted by the invasion force.

It didn't make much sense.

Taking a few hesitant steps on short legs, Ino waved towards the trees where she knew Shino watched. "If the grandmother comes looking…" She began, a tad startled by how high her voice was now.

"I'll send her back." Shino nodded once. "Move fast."

"Of course." Ino took off at a trot, noting how her bobbed hair swung jauntily around her ears. She remembered when she'd had just exactly this haircut. It had been years ago, a veritable lifetime before. As always, it was a bit disorienting operating in a new body, but the compliance of the child helped immensely.

The first block of houses she searched yielded nothing. A few barking dogs, definitely, but angry canines were not what she was looking for. The whole town had a deserted feel to it, which made Ino both curious and a tad nervous. For Kumogakure to be this abandoned on the eve of their greatest expedition to date was worrying. And yet there was no sign of foul play to suggest a reason. Aside from Miyuki's memory of the abduction of her family Ino had nothing to work with. Surely the Cloud shinobi hadn't taken the whole village with them…what was the point in that? Wondering how Shino was fairing, Ino turned onto a cul-de-sac of sorts, noting that there were no street lights lining this particular alcove.

Miyuki's mental self exploded with fear. Running forward, the child grabbed onto Ino's sleeve where she perched atop the table. "No! Don't go down there! The bad men will get us!"

"Bad men?" Ino removed the grasping hands, trying to calm the girl. "Then we _have_ to go down there, it's my job." Taking the girl's hand, she pulled her up beside her. "Now tell me, which house are the bad men in?"

"No!" Miyuki buried her head into Ino's side. "No, please…"

"The sooner I get to see the bad men, the sooner you can go back to bed." Ino told her, "Which house are they in, Miyuki?"

"That one." Ino focused her gaze on the house the child indicated. It was nondescript, looking just as abandoned as the others on this street. Moving more carefully, she walked around the structure, thanking the heavens for Miyuki's small form as she tucked herself behind one of the ornamental trees that lined the back garden path.

There were people in the house. Ino watched as a shadowy figure moved past a panel of thinly papered sections, the dragging sound of a sliding partition revealed its path as the person entered an inner room. She couldn't be sure how many of them there were. Initial chakra probes revealed little, but they could be shielding their presence, it was hard to tell at this distance.

It was now or never. Springing forwards, Ino directed Miyuki's small feet up the back steps, through a partially open outer door, and into the hallway beyond. Mentally thankful that the child was barefoot, she snuck down the hallway in the direction she thought the figure had gone. Her guess paid off as masculine voices drifted to her ears in a matter of seconds. Making a mental note to rub it in Shikamaru's face that eavesdropping daily did, indeed, come in handy, Ino snuck forward, barely daring to breathe.

"…according to plan. The Konoha team has found the force."

"The target?"

"Not there, probably still in the village."

"Then order them forward, regardless of what Konoha does."

"But the serum…"

"There are other ways to bring it into play. In the morning tell the Cloud nin to-" The voice abruptly cut off, and Ino froze.

"What? What's the matter?"

"We're being observed." Footsteps sounded suddenly, heading for the door.

Panicking slightly, but confident that her guise as a child would hold up, Ino backpedaled towards the door. In their shared mental space Miyuki was screaming, arms wrapped around Ino, begging her to run. A figure stepped into the hallway and Ino affected a slouched pose, calling easy tears to her eyes. "Please sir, I'm lost and…"

Ino's world went red.

Sheer, utter terror swamped her, though how much of it was hers and how much was Miyuki's was hard to tell. The tatami room the two had been sitting in was gone, replaced by a deep crimson landscape that Ino vaguely recognized as the hills behind the village. Around them large fires raged, the flames licking closer in a matter of seconds. In shock, Ino gaped at the figure approaching them through the smoky chaos.

Uchiha Itachi was in Kumogakure.

Shikamaru had suspected that the Akatsuki were behind this plot, had warned her and Shino to be on the lookout for lackeys or subordinates, but Ino doubted that even he could have predicted just who was pulling the strings. This was not a distantly conceived power-grab, this was a direct usurpation of the control of an entire nation. Kumogakure was not in any position to take over Konoha.

Kumogakure had already fallen.

Gasping for breath, trying to force some sort of logical thought into her stunned brain, Ino backed away. Grabbing desperately for Miyuki she tugged the child with her, before realizing that the girl could not be moved. Miyuki was frozen in place, tiny arms and legs turned to stone. Struggling to process this information, Ino met the eyes of the approaching Uchiha, realization dawning on her.

This was Tsukuyomi, there was no doubt about it. From the descriptions of others who'd experienced the effects of Itachi's mangekyo sharingan, Ino was able to identify all the trademark characteristics. But if she was trapped in his genjutsu, then how had she retained her ability to move and think freely? Backing away further, Ino again considered Miyuki's paralyzed form, the truth coming in a rush.

Itachi had not expected two minds in one body, in launching Tsukuyomi he had only captured Miyuki's brain, not Ino's as well. Therefore, though Ino was able to observe all that he did to Miyuki, she was not directly affected. How long would this last though? Taking a guess that Itachi would be unable to create a secondary genjutsu within the current one, Ino met his blood-red gaze as he reached the two of them.

"This is unexpected." His voice was deceptively soft, and she suppressed a shudder at the cold realization of just who she faced. "Two minds in one body. You're a Yamanaka aren't you? I recognize the technique."

"I won't answer your questions." Ino growled back, hoping he didn't notice how hard her legs shook. "What business do you have with Kumogakure? You supplied them the serum didn't you?"

"Definitely a Yamanaka," Itachi mused, a twitch of his finger caused Miyuki to whimper. "You've inherited your father's pointless bravado." Another finger movement and Miyuki screamed, the world around them turning blacker.

"Let her go!" Ino shouted, "She's a child!"

"Which didn't bother you when you appropriated her for your little spy mission, did it?" Itachi's eyes curved upwards slightly. "Reap what you sow Yamanaka, or would you rather I play with you instead?"

Ino almost offered herself in order to save Miyuki the tortures Itachi was inflicting on her, but realized in a cold shiver that to do so would doom them all. In her mind Itachi would find all he needed to know about Konoha's defenses, it would be short work for the Uchiha to drag any answer he needed out of her genjutsu-addled brain. Swallowing hard, Ino made the hardest choice of her entire life.

She had to abandon the child.

"You can't win this encounter, Uchiha." Ino stepped back, fingers coming up to form symbols that were both familiar and foreign to her. "In this girl's mind you have no power over me."

"For now." He allowed. "Believe me Yamanaka, next time we meet you will not be so free to avoid me."

"There won't be a next time." Her fingers flew through the symbols and she knew he watched her. Dog, bird, horse…all were memorized by the sharingan, she had no other choice but to let him see. "I've discovered your presence in Kumogakure, I've heard your plotting. Konoha won't be caught unawares."

"I'll let you think that so you can live with yourself." His finger twitched again. "I'm sure your triumph here will be a great comfort to Miyuki's grandmother when she finds the corpse in the morning."

"You _bastard_!" Ino cried, "I won't let you _touch_ Konoha!"

"I'm sure you'll try." Itachi nodded to her stilled fingers, which she'd paused to stop them from trembling. "Go on Yamanaka, I want to see how you believe you'll keep me from finding you before you leave town."

One last glance at the trapped child was a mistake, it nearly broke her resolve. Fighting fear and the apprehension that her plan might not work, Ino's fingers twisted into the final seal: tiger. Willing every ounce of chakra in her body into the combination, she shouted it out, surprising even herself with the energy that flowed from her.

"Atama Musubu no Jutsu!"


	6. Blood in the Water

_Author's Note: Well here it is, the next chapter! And it's a monster too, much longer than even I expected. Sorry about the wait between updates, I'm currently preparing to move out of the country and this requires much attention if I wish to do so without getting deported right back to the USA. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, especially Shadowmaster, glad you enjoy it. Ino's just made herself a very dangerous enemy and Shikamaru has launched his attack, but will it be enough? Will Shino and Ino leave Kumogakure alive? Read on, then review! _

_Disclaimer: If Naruto was mine I'd have to figure out some way to pack it, and I don't think I have that many moving boxes._

**Blood in the Water**

"_The dust has only just begun to form. Crop circles in the carpet, sinking feeling. Spin me round again and rub my eyes. This can't be happening." – 'Hide and Seek' by Imogen Heap._

The kikai mushi brought Shino news of a large chakra surge in the northwestern corridor of Kumogakure several seconds before he, too, sensed the disturbance.

During their search, the insects had found very little else of note, save for several empty syringes they had retrieved from what appeared to be a hastily constructed lab in the business district. Handling the discarded needles carefully Shino had been able to determine that they had, at one point, held the hormone serum. Apparently, one way to administer the serum was through injection. Shino had pocketed one syringe to show to Shikamaru, the Nara would want to examine it for himself. Shino didn't believe for a second that this method could have been used on his father. Aburame Shibi would not allow enemy nin close enough to his person to administer the serum in such a way. There had to be a secondary course of infection.

Apart from finding that the village was largely empty of life, Shino and his bugs had discovered little useful information. Glancing down at the still form of his teammate he had wondered how she was faring in the childish guise she'd affected. Instructing the kikai mushi to begin a sweep of the surrounding fields and outbuildings, Shino eyed the darkened sky. They had several hours until dawn. Enough time to disappear without a trace, as long as Ino wrapped up her scouting soon.

It was at this moment that a small group of his insects had arrived, frenzied with information, and the horizon had nearly exploded with chakra.

Shino straightened, instantly on alert. He was more chakra sensitive than others due to a lifetime of symbiosis with the kikai mushi, but only on rare occasions had he felt a surge of this size. Giving orders with terse intensity, he sent several miniature squadrons of insects careening towards what he was assuming was a battlefield. Rolling sleeves back further, he prepared himself for attack. Confident he could handle whatever was thrown at him, Shino again eyed the night sky.

He hoped his teammate hadn't provoked this.

Reports began to filter back: the chakra was Ino's, but not solely. Mixed with her violet-tinted chakra was an energy signature darker, and of higher frequency, than any he had previously encountered. The bugs were excited, ravenous almost, their small brains driven nearly over the edge by the presence of such a raw power source. Exerting harsher control Shino began calling them back, he knew what he needed to know.

So much for not being seen, it seemed.

Ino had met with the enemy and had found it necessary to engage in an attack of intensity he had been unaware she was capable of. Shikamaru's voice was in his head, replaying from their initial group meeting. "Ino has discovered a new family technique: Atama Musubu. We may have to utilize this."

So this was the 'new technique' of which Shikamaru had spoken. They'd been given a short briefing on the characteristics of Atama Musubu, but Shino was disappointed he hadn't asked for more information on it when he'd had the chance. Asides from the knowledge that Ino could bind her victims within their own memories, he had very little to work with. Hadn't Shikamaru said it could only be launched through shintenshin? She wouldn't have used it on the child…would she? Shino gathered his insects to him, crouching down to examine the body of the girl that lay at his feet.

This was not the first time he'd been put in charge of Ino's body while she was using shintenshin. His initial impression of the jutsu was negative. He considered any technique that left its user's body in such a wholly vulnerable position to be inconvenient at the very least. The fact that it also held a high failure rate did nothing to recommend its usage in his eyes. However, his feelings on the subject had changed slightly after witnessing Ino's work with her father the other night, and watching her recruit the young girl for her spy mission had also seemed a good move…at the time.

Now though, as he felt the distant chakra eruption lessen, Shino was more apt to second-guess his earlier judgment.

There was no good way to measure Ino's status from her motionless form. As always, when under the jutsu, she looked dead. A quick check revealed that she still had a pulse, but not much else. Shino considered moving her body to another location but decided against it. He did not have as much experience with shintenshin as Shikamaru and Chouji and was in no position to jeopardize Ino's mental return unless the action became absolutely necessary.

He would rather not have to haul a corpse all the way back to Konoha.

Frustrated at his inability to act and distracted by the reports of his returning bugs, Shino frowned. The chakra, they told him, was emanating from a small house on a dark side-street. Inside, they could vaguely determine the forms of three or four people, but the sheer intensity of the chakra blast was such they could not get closer without risking severe damage. Shino thought about overriding their flight instinct but held off. If Ino, in the form of a small child, needed rescue or he was required to flee, he would need his full arsenal intact. Shino ground his molars together, there was nothing he hated more than missing a fight.

What was Ino doing? More importantly, who was her opponent?

A dark sliver of motion caught his attention and he glanced down, becoming, if possible, more on edge. Blood seeped from the left side of Ino's mouth, a quick check revealed that the crimson liquid was bubbling up from her throat. There was no sign of outer damage that could produce such a response, an internal injury? This blood was from a wound she had received while in shintenshin, he'd seen such things happen to the girl before. Thinking quickly, Shino elevated her head, propping Ino against a nearby tree. The liquid continued to seep down her chin, soaking the front of her shirt.

He wondered if the form Ino was in could withstand such abuse for long.

Tense minutes passed, with no further action from the street in question. No one moved, at least not in sight of the kikai mushi, whom Shino had directed to monitor the house from a safe distance. Shino was about to order them into the structure when the girl at his feet came to life.

Choking on the blood in her mouth, Ino tilted her head to the side, spitting messily. He was at her side instantly, "Can you talk?" He asked, "That was Atama Musubu. Who did you use it on?"

"U…Uchiha Itachi." She gasped, head lolling. Shino stared at her in disbelief, he couldn't have heard her right.

"Ino, this is important. Who did you attack?"

"Itachi." She coughed, purple shirt front further darkening with her blood. "I'm sure. I saw him…talked…"

Her strength was failing her and, inwardly cursing himself for not doing so sooner, Shino forced her to take several of the emergency pills Sakura had provided. The effect was immediate, for she stopped spitting blood and began breathing easier. "You're _sure_?"

"I'd bet my life on it." Neither of them seemed to catch the irony in her words. As her pain became more manageable Ino became more agitated. "We have to leave here, _now_."

Shino was not one to run from a fight, usually refused to in fact, but he knew true bone-deep fear when he heard it. He also knew that there was no way in hell that someone of Ino's ranking was capable of killing, or even subduing Uchiha Itachi, if that was indeed who she had encountered. And although he was qualified to fight and defeat many people, Uchiha Itachi was not one of them. The time had come to leave Kumogakure.

Fast.

"Can you run?" Ino nodded, struggling to her feet without assistance, but a quick analysis of her chakra levels revealed otherwise. She was running on empty, which was not surprising considering the amount of energy she had expended only moments before. "Don't lie." He rebuked her, irritated that she would let her pride endanger them. Walking around in front of her he leaned over. "Grab on." Ino's arms twined around his neck, his arms under her legs, and they were off.

"You used Atama Musubu." He said. "Tell me what happened, start from the beginning." Speaking quickly, Ino recapped her movements from the moment she had gone beyond his sight-line. Listening, Shino regretted not sending bugs to monitor her, as well as not keeping the two of them together, but hindsight would not help them much at this point.

He could only hope to control the situation from here.

As Ino began to recount her experience in Tsukuyomi Shino nearly lost his balance, she had been so close to disaster, did she even realize? What were the chances of the events she was describing even happening? Uchiha Itachi was not one whom shinobi faced off with and survived to tell the tale. Dumb luck was all that had brought Ino here. Dumb luck and Uchiha having no way of anticipating there being a Yamanaka presence within the child.

"You managed to perform Atama Musubu perfectly your first try?" He asked as her words trailed off. "He's trapped in his own mind?"

"No." He could feel her shake her head in the negative. "There wasn't a chance, I had to…modify it a bit."

Lovely, she'd taken a new, unstable technique and modified the format before ever doing it correctly. "Modify it how?" Atama Musubu had huge drawbacks, even when used correctly, as so many of the Yamanaka techniques did. There was something vaguely masochistic about their jutsus in Shino's opinion. Then again, allowing bugs to live in your body was hardly pleasant business.

Ino's grip around his shoulders was steady, but without Sakura's medicine they would have been in deep trouble. Not that their current situation would be considered great, even with her in perfect health. He knew Ino had combat-medic training, hopefully she would be able to patch herself up further when they had a chance to stop

"I wasn't in _his_ mind." She checked behind them for pursuit. "We met in _Miyuki's_ mind. Tsukuyomi is genjutsu, I wasn't facing his full mental form, only the portion he inserted into the illusion. There was quite a bit of conscious control there, but not the latent parts. There was no way for me to access his memories."

"And that means?"

"I didn't have full control over him." She admitted, "But he didn't have any way to counter me, so I performed Atama Musubu on those mental sectors he'd used in Tsukuyomi."

"What did you bind him with if you had no access to his memories?"

She hesitated, but Shino wasn't sure why. "I bound him with Miyuki's memories." She said finally.

"How effective is that?" He couldn't imagine a child's memories were very strong, especially not in one so young.

"I'm not sure." She checked behind them once again. "Since they aren't his thoughts I can't imagine he'd have much trouble casting them off, but I tried to choose ones that would be difficult for him to grasp. Like fear and joy. I went for memories with intense emotional feedback."

Shino's brain raced, "Did he know who you were?" Perhaps, if they were lucky, Uchiha wouldn't know who'd tracked him down. He was several years older than either of them. There was a chance, however slim, that he might not have recognized Ino. That could provide them with a few more minutes of running time.

Except that Ino was the spitting image of her father and shintenshin was a rare jutsu, hard to confuse with anything else.

Shit.

"He knew I was a Yamanaka and specifically told me he was coming after Konoha." Ino sighed. "Atama Musubu must have worked a little, they aren't following yet."

"How many?" The bugs had said three or four, counting Ino. Since they had now determined their opponents were Akatsuki, Shino could be fairly certain they were dealing with one other person, since the mercenary group most commonly traveled in units of two.

"One more, I don't know who." She confirmed his guess. Shino readjusted his grip on the kunoichi and leaped from the ground into the tree tops. There were restless murmurs coming from the mushi, in the village something was stirring. Ino continued, oblivious, her senses dulled by the injury. "The partner is the one who stabbed me…stabbed Miyuki."

"Stabbed? You had no outer wounds." It would explain her blood loss though.

"He stabbed me as I was performing the shintenshin release. I escaped the worst of it."

So her consciousness had exited the body in time to avoid the outer injury, but not the inner. Again, it came down to luck. So far the cards were falling in their favor, but it would be a naïve assessment to expect such conditions to hold. Ino's fight had been a close call, both knew it, but neither remarked on it.

They had been well-trained to ignore their own mortality.

"The girl?" Shino asked, the drone of the kikai mushi was heightening, as was the tension in his shoulders. Two paths of action lay before them, and it was Shino's job to determine down which they would proceed. Normally he would tend towards the option which offered the best outcome, but the choice was not so simple.

At this point, both roads where they lay sketched out in his mind, were shrouded in the darkness of uncertainty.

In Shino's experience, not far behind uncertainty was failure.

"She's…Miyuki is dead."

He wondered why Ino insisted on using the little girl's name. Her sentimentality would only haunt her later. Irritation bubbled up within Shino, but he pushed it back down, there was no use picking a fight. "Don't think about it." He told her, he needed Ino focused. A panicked buzzing reached his ears and he skidded to a halt, letting go of the girl. "We're being followed."

She had been on the edge of a scorching rebuke about his comment regarding the dead girl, he could tell, but his announcement banished it from her mind. "Followed? Already?!"

"Heal yourself." He instructed her, feeling the small chakra flare as she dug into her reserves to manage what Sakura's pills had not. Holding both hands out parallel to the ground, he summoned the fastest of his mushi. Leaning close to their comforting mass he began soft whispered instructions, entrusting them with all he and Ino had discovered.

"You're sending the bugs." Ino said, her tone sharp, aware, suspicious. "Why? We can still make it back to Konoha."

"Nara needs this information faster than we can bring it to him." With a last admonishment Shino released the kikai mushi to the sky. "Konoha has to prepare for what is coming and we will buy them time."

"But the bugs, Shikamaru will think..."

"Nara will think what he needs to think." Shino estimated they had fifteen minutes before the Uchiha and his companion found them. Ino was back on her feet, she looked steadier than before. Her energy levels were still low though, she needed sleep, but they had no time for that. Would she be able to keep up? He didn't know how well she'd scored on stamina training in school.

Catching his evaluating glance, Ino raised an eyebrow. "I can take care of myself, if that's what you're wondering."

If she had energy for sauciness, he wasn't going to carry her anymore, he decided.

Shino weighed their options, aware that each second brought the Akatsuki closer. Attacking was not viable, not in their current state. They couldn't hope to lead Uchiha in a diversionary direction, he was more familiar with the area for one, and Konoha made an undoubtedly more alluring target than the two of them did. They needed back-up, but any support was miles away and currently dealing with the main invasion force.

Ultimately, they couldn't keep standing here, or they really wouldn't make it back to Konoha. "Start running." He said, "I'll follow."

"What is the plan?" Ino asked. Standing there in her blood-soaked clothes she looked wild, projecting a nervous energy that was upsetting the mushi.

"I don't have one yet." He admitted. How long it would take him to come up with one, he wasn't sure. "Now, run."

* * *

Bodies lay strewn across the clearing in morbid, twisted clusters. Watching from a concealed vantage point on the very edge of the camp, Sakura tried to make sense of what she was observing. There was no longer need to worry about the guards, they'd been called to the center of the camp long before. The Cloud nin were no longer concerned with their own security, or so it seemed.

Shinobi milled amongst the fallen, keeping one eye on the skies as they disassembled tents, breaking up camp mere hours after settling. Tenten had worked quickly, allowing only the minimum reactionary time, she was truly a skilled weapon mistress. Indeed, the evidence of her expertise was everywhere, tortured souls released from tired bodies which lay bloodied and broken on the forest floor. As the life ebbed out of the infected villagers, so too did the efficiency of Kumogakure's serum transport.

And with the disappearance of the serum so too did the chances of Cloud nin success vanish. Theoretically.

So why was it that they weren't retreating? Sakura had been monitoring the activity since the first of Tenten's steel fell and there had been very little panic, uncharacteristic for the overall inexperience of this group. Asides from a curt order to gather in the center and watch the perimeter, the Cloud nin had not even moved to save their serum enhanced villagers, after a preliminary surge towards the pens. Even now they seemed vastly unconcerned with the thought that Shikamaru's team continued to lurk somewhere in the darkened trees. Their behavior was not merely stupid and inexperienced, it was nearly improbable.

Sakura was intensely confused.

A light footstep on the trunk behind her caused Sakura to whirl, kunai extended, but it was only Tenten, mouth a grim line. "Shikamaru and Temari are coming." The older girl intoned. Sakura nodded wordlessly, "Are they still just standing there?" Tenten asked.

"See for yourself." Sakura moved over to give the other kunoichi a glimpse of the aftermath. "No response whatsoever."

"It's the same as when I was attacking." Tenten muttered, "I don't get it."

"They don't seem upset." Sakura fiddled with the clasp on her bag. "Considering you just destroyed their method of serum transport I would think there'd be some sort of emotional response. Anger, fear…anything."

"Do you think they expected this?" Tenten had voiced the one possibility that Sakura had been suppressing all night. What if, as the older girl had said, this was exactly what Kumogakure had wanted all along? The thought was troubling. Could it be, despite Shikamaru's planning, that they'd played directly into their enemy's hands? Surely not…

"I hope not." There was less than a day left before the invasion. If they couldn't stop Kumogakure here the battle would undoubtedly move to the streets of her hometown. Sakura had been one of the few who had witnessed the last invasion of Konoha, the memories were not those that she wished to dwell on.

In her time as an active kunoichi Sakura had participated in any number of missions, everything from targeted assassination attempts, to all-out battles, to raids. There was always something distinctly unsettling, an almost claustrophobic sense about those fights which took place on streets lined by houses and shops. A field or forest was anonymous and easily compartmentalized, but a street? A home?

No one deserved to die on their own doorstep.

Sakura had sent her parents away, ignoring their protests as she'd started them on the road out of town to visit her grandparents for the week. The thought that her own family was safe was an immense relief, but that didn't lessen her anxiety for those who had stayed behind. The thought of fighting foreign invaders in front of houses and buildings she'd known since her childhood chilled her. However, the possibility of a hand-to-hand battle was still preferable to the thought of what would happen should the hormone serum make its way into Konoha's populace.

The concept of fighting testosterone-addled childhood friends was something Sakura couldn't even wrap her mind around. Fighting a stranger to the death was bad enough. Fighting a friend would be unbearable.

Which was why she and Tenten were currently crouched in a tree trying to out-think these blasted Cloud nin.

"See those three over there?" Sakura followed Tenten's pointed finger, her gaze arriving on a small knot of people, hunched in furious discussion. "The woman is the main tactician, she's the one in charge of this operation. The other two are her subordinates."

The three in question straightened abruptly, beginning to gingerly pick their way across the bloodied ground. They moved towards the groups of lesser nin, the blood of their prisoners running past their feet, splitting the campsite into a morbid landscape of red streams and dusty islands.

Was this how the Cloud nin had intended to leave Konoha?

The deceptively mild voice of Shikamaru filtered through the leaves behind them. "They've decided on their next move." Sakura and Tenten felt the tree branches shift as their teammates arrived. "Just what that is, we shall wait and see."

"If they can't see that they're beaten they're fools." Temari nudged Shikamaru with her elbow, and Sakura, through some odd trick of sympathy for the absent Ino, bristled at the contact. It was stupid, she told herself, to act this way. There was a big chance that she was misreading the feelings between the two, and in any case, it wasn't her place to interfere. Despite all of this logic, watching her oldest friend's heart get broken was not something Sakura could do willingly. Flustered by her thoughts and her inability to focus on the current crisis, she moved forward to get a better view.

The fact that this brought her directly between Shikamaru and Temari was a happy coincidence. Shikamaru didn't seem to notice, but the maneuver gained Sakura a measured glance from the sand jounin. She responded with one of her own.

Sakura didn't like to waste time with being intimidated.

Lit only by the stars in the sky, the nin in the camp were reduced to blue-sliver figures, the night stripping them of any identity of their own. Instead they were united with their watchers as creatures of the night, motives and destinies obscured by the amalgamating shadows. There was increased movement in the camp, "They're moving the bodies." Tenten observed, "Look, all the bodies, they're carrying them."

"Are they cleaning up the evidence?" Sakura wondered, "Do you think they plan on cremating them?"

Shikamaru shot down her suggestion, "Covering their tracks at this point is a waste of time. They know we're here. Tenten's assault made that painfully obvious. Their options now are to either continue the attack or retreat. This dawdling doesn't serve them well either way."

"Attacking would be foolish." Sakura muttered, "At this point what could they hope to gain from it? They _have_ to retreat."

"So you would think." In the camp, the shadows were shifting. All the dead were being transported to a common point on the far side of the camp grounds, near the river. With a hand gesture Shikamaru ordered Temari to the skies, the unspoken request being to determine just where they were disposing of the corpses. Bracing herself against the blast of wind which marked the girl's departure, Sakura noted how gingerly the Cloud nin handled the corpses. Some of them had even donned gloves. Barring those situations in which there was an imminent threat of contamination, such protection was very rarely used by shinobi. The barest of chakra shields was enough to combat most infection.

Shikamaru had noticed this as well. "Gloves." He pointed them out to Tenten. "Why would they need gloves? Sakura, there isn't a possibility that the serum could be transmitted through skin to skin contact, is there?"

She considered the possibility. "I doubt it. We didn't have that sort of trouble with Yamanaka Inoichi or Aburame Shibi. To be spread through skin contact the serum would have to be in the form of a virus or bacteria which it isn't, so I hardly think…" Her voice trailed off as a sudden, sickening possibility made itself clear. "Unless they…"

"Unless?"

"We need to move closer." Sakura dropped down out of the tree, the other two following. "Quickly! We need to find out where they're taking those bodies!"

"Temari is determining that now." Despite halting her ill-planned forage into the camp, Shikamaru quickly caught up with her line of thought. "You think the serum is blood based."

"Yes." The pounding of her heart in her ears was loud enough to block out the humming of the nighttime cicadas. "By injecting a small sample into the blood stream the serum can then spread and multiply through the person's own blood cells. It explains why even someone like Inoichi would eventually succumb. He might have been able to resist the original amount of serum but after it started reproducing it was too much for him to handle."

"By injecting those villagers they've increased their supply exponentially." Shikamaru swore under his breath. "Did Tenten attack quickly enough to stop the process?"

"I don't know." Sakura studied the night sky, rosy shimmers were begin to lighten the eastern horizon. Dawn. The villagers had been dead for several hours, the blood would begin to congeal…in the last group to be injected this might have halted the reproduction of the serum, but in the first two groups? She wasn't certain. The serum had already proven to be remarkably fast-acting.

Sakura wished Tsunade was here to offer council, surely the Hokage would have a better idea of the time frame they were dealing with here. Then again, the Hokage hated blood, an odd phobia for a ninja, perhaps Shizune would have been able to provide more information. If only they had thought of this possibility sooner!

They were poised at the edge of the camp, Sakura ground her teeth together in frustration. What was going on? Temari, seeing their progress from her airborne fan, began to swivel back, taking a lower arc over the far side of the camp, presumably for closer observation. Sakura took a deep breath, "This explains the gloves as well, any blood contact, maybe the contact of any bodily fluid will spread the hormones. They're not about to risk infection themselves. I should have guessed this! After Shino…"

"I overlooked it as well." Sakura could almost see the gears whirling in Shikamaru's brain. "They're gathering the bodies at a common point, but for what? Are they going to drain the blood?"

"I'll tell you what they're doing with the blood." Wind gusted about them as Temari landed with a heavy thud. She'd overheard the latter part of their conversation as she'd descended. "They're coating their weapons with it, sick bastards. Slicing those corpses to ribbons, that's what they're doing."

"Cutting up the bodies?" Tenten looked vaguely sick. "Dismembering them? Why?"

"Not sure." Temari shook her head, using her right hand to brush back several fly-away hairs, her left arm, Sakura noted, hung oddly limp. "As far as I could tell they're just chopping them up and tossing them in the river. Weren't too happy when I came by to see what they were doing, either."

Something was definitely off about the way the sand nin was moving her left arm. Medical senses screaming, Sakura began to move forward. "Temari, let me take a look at…"

"The river!" The three girls froze, stunned by the uncharacteristic outburst from one of Konoha's quietest shinobi. Shikamaru didn't notice, instead slapping one hand hard against his leg in frustration. "My god, the river, how could I miss it?"

"It could just be a burial ritual." Tenten ventured, "A way to hide the evidence?"

"No, it's not." Shikamaru shook his head, "I knew there was something wrong about the location of this campsite. Something so obvious we couldn't help but overlook it. It's the _river_." He brushed away a fly that had landed on his vest. "We need to return to Konoha immediately."

"I don't understand." Temari waved her good hand at the campsite. "Let us kill them here! There are only fifty nin, and they've got their guard down. I go in on the left, Tenten on the right, we wipe out the rest of the force. Take a few nin prisoner for interrogation. The end."

"There's no time." Shikamaru was focused now, earlier hesitation gone. He'd extracted a small scroll from one of his many vest pockets and was studying it intensely. "The blood is already in the water, and according to the map there are rapids less than a mile away. The current will increase after the rocks…at our top running speed we can just barely beat it back."

"You're losing me here." Temari sounded as puzzled as Sakura felt. "Blood in the water matters why?"

"The serum is in the blood, the blood is in the water." Sakura summed up for her, earning a quizzical reaction from the girl.

"And that means?"

"Well, the serum has now infected the river…" Sakura guessed, earning a curt nod from their mission leader. She wasn't exactly sure was this was such a huge problem, they were quite a ways away from Konoha in any case.

"This river is the Akame river." Shikamaru told them, latching the scroll shut and placing it in his pocket past the persistent insect that still hovered there. "It passes less than a mile from the northeast gate of Konoha."

Sakura's heart dropped to her toes.

Tenten gasped, fingers flying to her mouth. "The Akame river." It seemed as if every muscle in her body tensed at once. "It provides all the drinking and washing water for the Hyuuga compound!" The girl's mind had obviously flown to the fate of her teammate and not-so-secret crush. The prospects for his avoiding the serum, Sakura thought, no longer looked so great.

"As well as for the Inuzuka's and my own family's pastures." Shikamaru's mouth was set in a grim line, dark eyes reduced to narrow slits. "It's the primary irrigation point for the entire village."

Sakura was finding it hard to catch a breath. In her mind a bright crimson line snaked towards Konoha, its path unalterable and unstoppable. Each second that passed, rushing water brought her worst nightmares closer and closer to the waking village. "They…they've been putting bodies in for the past half an hour!"

"We must leave now." Shikamaru motioned them forward. "Move fast, when you reach Konoha spread the news as quickly as possible. Avoid the river, use well water only. We might not make it back in time to catch the early risers, so we'll have to do our best to isolate anyone who's infected. Tell everyone to avoid water or bodily fluid contact."

"Right." Tenten was gone and Temari made to follow before Sakura stopped her, mind momentarily clearing from its haze of panic.

"Your arm." She said in answer to the girl's questioning glance. "You're hurt, do you want me to check it out?"

Temari shrugged her off. "It's nothing, I pulled it a bit maneuvering above the camp, shouldn't affect my running." Against her better judgment, leaving even small wounds untreated was risky, Sakura let her go. She would make sure to treat it when they arrived back at the village. If the older girl had strained any muscles, it was best to immobilize them as soon as possible.

Ready to offer to bring up the rear, when they were done with their butchering the Cloud nin would undoubtedly head for Konoha, Sakura glanced back. "Shikamaru, I…what's wrong?" He stood with one hand outstretched, face frozen in an odd expression she couldn't identify.

He was staring at his palm, on which rested the small bug that had been pestering him for the past few minutes. There was not just one anymore, slowly an entire swarm was forming around his fingertips. "These are kikai mushi." His voice sounded choked, "Shino's bugs."

Since it seemed, for once, that Shikamaru was not thinking quickly enough to keep up with events, Sakura grabbed his arm and pulled him into the shelter of the trees. The bugs followed, a black, shifting mass that hovered before them ominously. "W...why would he send them?" Sakura stuttered, "He and Ino should be back soon anyway."

Shikamaru didn't reply. Sakura's dread grew, was it possible for every aspect of their mission to collapse at once? "Maybe they're delayed?" She squeaked, voice wobbling with unreleased tension.

Shikamaru still didn't move. The bugs in front of him began a sort of dance, twisting around each other until they began to form characters, words that hardly seemed to make sense, yet fit in a strange, appalling sort of way. Their whole message was soon sketched out, burning itself into Sakura's mind.

**Kumogakure fallen to Akatsuki. Serum injections found. Ino engaged in fight with Uchiha Itachi, other member unidentified. Team pursued to Konoha, will delay as long as possible. **

So it was Akatsuki then. Sakura had experienced an odd feeling of disappointment in seeing that the Uchiha in question was Itachi and not Sasuke. In regards to the younger brother, any information on his whereabouts was welcome, good or bad. Perhaps though, the arrival of Itachi in Konoha would harbor the return of the village's other prodigal son, however dark his motives were. Disgusted with herself for ignoring the real problem at hand, Sakura reread the message.

Images of Ino sprang unbidden to her mind's eye. Her best friend, her biggest rival for ages, ultimately the blond kunoichi was the dearest friend Sakura had in Konoha. Ino had engaged in a fight with Itachi? Naruto and Kakashi had survived encounters with the older Uchiha, but both were better suited to such an encounter. Kakashi due to experience and his matching sharingan, Naruto because of the sheer power of his trapped kitsune.

What in the world had caused Ino to enter into battle with the S-ranked criminal? How exactly was Shino planning on delaying two Akatsuki hell-bent on arriving in Konoha in time to watch the serum take effect? Would any of them make it back to Konoha in time to stop its destruction?

Shikamaru was waving the insects away, most, Sakura noted, took flight immediately, returning to their master. "I'm sure Ino's okay." Sakura said hesitantly, ignoring every instinct that told her this couldn't possibly be the case. She met his eyes. "She and Shino will get back alright."

For the first time in her life, she saw Shikamaru lose control of his emotions. "Don't give me _suppositions_!" He snapped, "I want facts _only_, do you understand?! Ino just fought a shinobi who slaughtered his entire _clan_ and you want me to believe it's no big deal?! Shino's faced with stopping two Akatsuki that would give any _team_ of Konoha ninja a problem and _I_ ordered them both there. Do you understand Sakura? Their blood will be on _my_ hands. As will Konoha's if I don't get there in time." His shoulders were a stiff line under his jacket, hands balled into fists. "Konoha has top priority and because of that I can't send a single shinobi to help Shino and Ino. I signed their death warrant when I sent them off last night."

Sakura stood there, stunned. His logic was carving a deep swathe through any hope she'd held out for Ino's return, but at the same time, his rationality had the effect of making her furious. Truly, blindingly enraged.

If it hadn't been so completely against her better judgment she would have punched Shikamaru with everything she had.

As it was, she drew herself to her full height. Hardly believing what she was about to do. "Don't you dare give up on them, Shikamaru."

His eyes were filled with something close to anguish, but Sakura's rage allowed her to feel no sympathy for the boy. "They have less than a 15 chance of…"

"I don't care!" Sakura pulled the shoulder straps of her medical pack. "If there is anyone who can beat your odds it's Ino, I won't have you write her off." Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved several small vials and handed them to boy. "These are the estrogen injections. They might buy some time if any of you are infected." Glancing about, she spotted two or three kikai mushi where they still hovered, recovering their strength for the flight back.

Shikamaru followed her gaze. "Where are you going?"

"To Ino and Shino, I'll follow the bugs." Sakura tightened her forehead protector. "The two of them are probably injured, they'll need medical back-up."

"I didn't order you to-"

"You can't." Sakura interrupted him. "Like you said Shikamaru, Konoha needs everyone you've got, but right now Ino and Shino need me more. You can't order me to go to them, so I'll go by myself. If Tsunade has a problem with it, I'll talk to her when I get back."

"You…" Sakura wondered for a moment if he'd try to stop her. Emotions played across his face as he warred with himself, determination, fear, anger, hope. Shikamaru nodded and stepped back.

"Go, then." His face was blank, once again had he held himself in check. "Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"I expect you back in Konoha by evening."

* * *

The group from the north had been traveling all night, arriving at the small fishing village as dawn broke, the sun's rays creating prisms as it reached across the ocean. The village was just beginning to wake, early risers heading down to shore to launch their boats into the bay. The four strangers drew many curious glances as they ducked into a small udon shop on the main strip. Their leader sank into a stool at the counter, the others following his example.

"Why are we stopping _now_?" The blue haired boy draped himself over the counter, ignoring the scandalized glances of the waitress. "I thought you wanted to get to Konoha fast. Don't tell me you're _hungry_?"

"Don't be stupid. He's not hungry, he's _thinking_." The girl next to him slapped him over the head, a move which cause his hand to jump to the hilt of the large sword he carried.

"You do that one more time and I swear I'll…" They moved back, giving themselves room for a tussle in the confined space.

"Enough." Both backed down under the glare of the head shinobi. "We've traveled far enough for now. Karin, I want you to scout out nearby movement. Pay especial attention to the west."

"Of course." She smiled graciously at the speaker before sending a flying kick towards her constant antagonist. "Make that face one more time and you won't have any of those disgusting teeth _left_!"

"Of course." The sword bearer mocked her. ""Whatever you say my dear S-" A fist in the nose stopped his sentence but, to the waitress' shock he seemed hardly phased by the attack. Instead he shook his finger at the girl mockingly. "Now, now Karin, haven't you learned?"

Their leader appeared unperturbed by their bickering. "Suigetsu, you will scout around the bay." It seemed for a moment that Suigetsu would refuse the orders, but instead he stood grudgingly. His eyes rolled in annoyance.

"Fine. Fine. Don't lose my sword while I'm gone, you hear?" Leaning the massive weapon against the counter, he rolled his shoulders to relieve the cramps. Several nasty glances later and both of them exited the restaurant, leaving the other two boys behind. The waitress brought out small glasses of tea.

Taking a sip from his cup, the larger of the two considered the shinobi sitting on his right. "Do you want me to reconnoiter the mountain area?" He asked, massive hands wrapped around the delicate chinaware.

"It's not necessary." Pale hands reached out to pick up the second cup of tea. "I'm already well aware of where the target is."

"Ah." They lapsed into silence. From the back of the restaurant a small cat emerged, padding across the counter on quiet feet to demand attention from the two customers. The large man was happy to oblige, using two fingers he scratched the feline gently under the chin, eliciting pleased purrs.

"You like animals?" Dark eyes took in the absurd scene of a giant killer catering to a tiny ball of fluff.

"Not particularly, not like Suigetsu." The man shrugged, "I had a cat when I was a child, is all."

"Hmm." The waitress brought them medium-sized bowls of miso, her smile falling on their cold features which offered not so much as a smirk in response. Unnerved, she bowed her way back into the kitchen, probably intent on telling the kitchen staff what jerks they were.

"Lots of people are going to die in Konoha today." Dark eyes met light and the man continued, his earnestness somehow out-of-place coming from such a menacing form. "I can feel it. If anyone knows what that serum will do, it's me. You said…you said the strategist from Konoha is the best, but even he can't outthink this. He can't, he doesn't know enough about Akatsuki."

"He's a fast learner." The smaller shinobi spooned soup to his mouth. "He has already anticipated more than I thought he would. Nara won't be able to stop the serum, true, but he has already guessed they're after the Kyuubi and that alone might be enough to thwart them."

"He might save the Kyuubi, but not the village."

"That's not necessary." The last spoonful of miso was swallowed. "Not for us, in any case."

The cat ran off with a soft meow, beckoned by someone beyond the curtain leading to the kitchen. "You won't make a move to help Konoha then? I thought that maybe…for old times' sake…"

His question garnered no response and he shifted uncomfortably. Picking up his own bowl of soup, he sipped directly from the rim, not bothering with the spoon. With gathering unease, he signaled the waitress for more tea. She complied, but the silence continued. Finally he broke it, a small droplet of sweat gathering at the nape of his neck.

"Look, I'm sorry about…I didn't mean…"

"It's no matter." Waving the waitress away, the other boy tapped his fingers briefly against the countertop. "I have not yet determined what to do about Konoha."

"I see."

"If events proceed as I anticipate, the Leaf village will have to fend for itself."

"Are you-" Both looked up as the girl in their group rushed back into the restaurant, looking decidedly displeased.

"Karin?"

"You will _not_ believe what happened in Kumogakure last night!" She fumed, throwing herself into the stool previously occupied by Suigetsu. "You won't be happy about this, not _one_ bit!" As she began relating her story the mood at the counter grew increasingly darker, until even Karin began to falter a bit.

"So…what should we do?"

"Move out." Their leader was on his feet and out the door before they could follow. Karin shrugged at the boy next to her.

"I knew he wasn't going to be happy." They stood, the man grabbing Suigetsu's sword on the way out.

"Should we pay the bill?" He asked.

"Why should we? What're they gonna do? Force us to?" She trotted forward after the already distant figure of their leader. "Oi! Wait up!"

Anyone still asleep in the fishing village was awoken several moments later when the waitress came back to discover her strange morning customers were gone. A quick search of the village found two broken, battered fisherman underneath the wharf and a missing fishing boat. Further investigation yielded nothing apart from a growing sense of insecurity.

It was decided no one would follow the four visitors.


	7. Breaking Point

_Author's Notes: Ta da! I have finished another chapter, and much faster than I thought I would. Waterkunoichi promised me a cookie if I updated quickly, so with any luck, the cookie is mine. I would like to send a huge 'thank you' to Newt-ish who stumbled upon this story and reviewed every single chapter! Thank you so much! I got 10 reviews for the last chapter which is a new record for me, so hugs to all of you who are reading this and reviewing. And to those who are just reading, I hope you like it! Let me know what you think. The serum is snaking it's way into our favorite ninja village, will anyone escape? And are Ino and Shino going to make it back alive? Things aren't looking good on either count..._

_Disclaimer: Blast! I still haven't received the copywrite to Naruto! I ordered it off ebay, but it appears I may have been tricked._

****

**Breaking Point**

"_If I had to I would put myself right beside you, so let me ask, would you like that? Something's getting in the way, something's just about to break. I will try to find my place…" – 'Diary of Jane' by Breaking Benjamin_

Of all the living quarters in the Hyuuga family compound, Hyuuga Neji's was the most austere. To describe the decorating scheme as one of simplicity was a vast understatement. No color graced the room except for the pale blue shade that some previous occupant had applied long before Neji had even been born. Furniture was minimal: a lone futon on the floor, a seldom used desk in the corner. The only striking feature about the space was its meticulous cleanliness.

Neji couldn't stand dirt.

Naturally, no one knew of this idiosyncrasy. Though there was a good chance that most of his friends would let him off the hook with only minimal teasing, Neji had long ago labeled his personality quirk as a potential weakness and, having so decided, guarded the information rather zealously.

Tenten and Lee were the only two ever allowed into this inner sanctuary, and each had a slight inkling about the nature of Neji's hygiene. Both had been amused by the sterile condition of their teammate's room, discussing their find in hushed tones on the way back from the forbidding compound. However, neither had ever broached the subject with the boy genius, content with keeping the amusing information to themselves.

Their discretion was one of the reasons Neji tolerated them so well.

At the moment, the boy lay flat on his back, all-seeing eyes studying nothing more than the ceiling above him. Neji had been trained from an early age to sleep in such a manner, his dominant right hand tucked securely under his side. Such a position, Hyuuga tradition dictated, allowed a sleeping warrior to protect his stronger, attacking hand even if ambushed while asleep. Neji had hated complying with the idea when younger, irritated by the sheer discomfort of the position. Lately though, he'd become much more accepting of the advice, having experienced its usefulness in the field more than once.

At times it irked him that his elders really did know better.

This did not, however, mean that he thought they were right about everything. Hardly. Even the very thought of that possibility made him smirk.

It was early, but already the sound of morning activity was drifting through the immense house. The Hyuuga compound never slept, at all moments there were those coming and going. Guards, spies, cooks, children, within the walled structure one could find every age and ability. Each and every inhabitant possessing the pearly, unfathomable stare for which the clan was renowned.

The swift steps of one of his many cousins echoed down the passageway as the shinobi returned from a late-night mission. The man was probably one of the many Neji had assigned to double the gate watch around Konoha. Keeping true to his promise to Shikamaru, Neji had spent the previous day in planning, working with Tsunade and others to shore up the village against attack, regardless of whether it came from outside forces or their own people.

Neji had followed Shikamaru's suggestions closely, adding minor adjustments of his own: storm walls had been built, extra weapons acquired, and all had been put under tight guard. The Hyuuga was confident that Konoha could withstand the best Kumogakure could muster. He had, after all, done exactly as he had vowed.

Konoha was ready.

It remained to be seen if Shikamaru would follow through with his own promise.

Black eyebrows drew together in a frown as Neji allowed the thought of Tenten and her current mission to creep across his mind. Following his rather less than satisfactory conversation with Shikamaru the previous morning he had swung by Tenten's apartment. Shikamaru's reassurance that Tenten would be more than capable of handling the mission was merely a restatement of what Neji already knew. It was not Tenten's abilities he was concerned about.

It was the abilities of her opponents.

She'd answered the door on the second knock, half a dozen kunai balanced haphazardly on her free palm. "Neji." She'd greeted him with a smile. "I'm just getting ready to go." This was as close as Tenten would ever get to telling him she was busy. "What's up?"

"These Kumogakure nin," he'd pushed past her into the apartment, noting her backpack on the couch, the large scroll resting on the floor. "You shouldn't underestimate them."

"I know." He hadn't needed to turn to know she was securing kunai in various hidden pockets on her clothing. On missions Tenten was nothing short of a walking arsenal. "Shikamaru came by earlier and briefed me. I know what I'll be facing."

"I trust Nara's judgment." He had agreed, taking in the red coverlet she'd placed on her guest chair. Was it new? He hadn't remembered it from previous visits. "He's trustworthy."

"Yeah." Tenten had stepped into his line of sight. She'd tied on her forehead protector, he had noticed, it was scuffed, a small dent adorning the corner. The dent was his doing, he'd remembered, the result of an ill-placed blow during a spar two years ago. "Is there something the matter Neji? You're acting a bit strange."

"There's nothing." But there was. It was nothing he'd ever be able to say however. Most of what stood between him and the girl, indeed the core of their relationship, was that which they never acknowledged verbally. This suited Neji just fine, except for those moments when there was clearly something which needed to be said. It was during these times that he was the most unsure of himself. Never feeling more off-balance than when he was forced to rely such a tricky, unstable means of communicating as speech.

This had been one of those moments.

"Keep your distance." He'd said finally. "Listen to what Nara says."

"I'll take out that serum or die trying." She'd replied and the strange pressing sensation in his chest had grown more irritable. "I know I'm Konoha's only chance Neji, and I won't let you down."

It was everything he expected of her and not at all what he had wanted to hear. He would never ask her to be anything less than what she was. Tenten was one of the most capable kunoichi he knew, taught well by Gai and shaped through years of combat at Neji's side.

In the end, they were ninja first, boy and girl second, there was no one in all of Leaf country who understood that better than Hyuuga Neji. So he had nodded approvingly, distantly enjoying the smile that filled her face. He had watched her run towards the village gates, and had turned his back, already thinking of the tasks lying ahead of him.

For the rest of the day she had been nothing more than a nagging memory in the back of his mind. No more troublesome than the thought of what he would eat for dinner. It was only as day turned to night and he found himself ahead of schedule, his objectives being accomplished with more speed than he'd anticipated, that Neji allowed himself to consider why he was so bothered by her current mission.

Any psychologist, he was sure, would link his paranoia to the death of his father at the hands of shinobi from the same village. Neji's history would naturally lead to worry expressed over those close to him. There was a high possibility that he would experience similar feelings if Lee or Gai had been in Tenten's place. Unresolved feelings towards Kumogakure were perfectly understandable.

Surely, that was all it was. A manifestation of post-traumatic stress linked to what he had experienced as a child. It would seem entirely reasonable to anyone who reviewed his case. Justifiable, logical, and to be expected.

Right.

So why did it infuriate him so much that he hadn't been included on Shikamaru's team?

Registering faint footfalls sounding from the turn of the hallway, Neji made a mental note to talk to Tenten about this when she returned. It was intensely irritating to be so distracted by her absence at a time like this. They'd have to think of a way around it, perhaps he could train her more thoroughly in obscure combat techniques? Then, at least, she would be more ready for missions such as this. Whoever was in the hallway was running now, harsh breathing creating a symphony above the rapid staccato beat of footsteps.

They stopped outside of his door.

Neji activated his byakugan instantly, rolling to his feet and shifting into a fighting stance in one fluid movement. His posture straightened a tad, fingers uncurling just slightly as he recognized the face of a young Hyuuga boy on the other side of the wall. Still on guard, Neji stepped forward as the youth flung open the door to his room.

"Atsushi, what…"

"Neji san! The court yard! They need you! Hinata sama said…" The boy broke off, gasped for breath. "…said to hurry…"

Hinata wouldn't summon him without a very good reason, not on a day like today. Byakugan on full force, Neji sped past the boy, pausing only to grab his forehead protector off the floor by his pillow. "Wake the compound." He called back to Atsushi, "Everyone to arms."

The distance between his bedroom and the courtyard was not great, Neji arrived in the training quad in a matter of moments. Three sides were bordered by walls, a number with doorways leading to inner corridors. The fourth side opened up to the outer enclosing wall, a formal greeting area for those just-arrived in the compound. Several yards from the ornamental landscaping lay the main entrance, the large doors currently ajar.

Skidding to a halt, it took Neji several seconds to assess the frenzied activity taking place. To his left was a small group of weeping women whom he recognized as Hanabi's entourage. Several showed signs of injuries, blood flowing freely from superficial wounds. Neji checked behind him, the family medics had not yet arrived, but a growing crowd was assembling. "Jounins step forward!" He ordered, motioning for them to fan out around him.

In front of him several fights were taking place, most between minor members of Hanabi's following and those guards who had, apparently, been the first responders. Those attackers from Hanabi's court were slowly being overwhelmed, most of them possessing basic abilities not strong enough to challenge the more experienced Hyuuga they faced. But why had they attacked in the first place? A quick check of the opponents confirmed his suspicions.

The hormone serum had reached Konoha.

Somewhere, somehow, Tenten and Shikamaru had failed.

Refocusing, Neji studied the crucial encounter taking place roughly seven meters in front of him. "Has anyone sent for Hiashi?" He asked.

"Already done."

"Good." Lips set in a tight line, Neji moved forward cautiously. It would be in the best interests of the main house for the Hyuuga leader to arrive quickly. What was unfolding here at the compound gates had the makings of a major tragedy if Neji wasn't able to stop it.

Covered with dust and sweat, Hyuuga Hinata and her sister Hanabi faced each other. Chakra enhanced blows flew back and forth, momentarily blown aside as Hanabi launched into the powerful rotation of the kaiten. The younger girl's lips were drawn back into a maniacal grin, her teeth flashing white against a face that was red with rage.

"Die!" She screamed, "Just die already!" Her forehead protector, awarded to her upon advancement to the genin level was askew, slipping on her long black hair. "Hakke Kusho!"

Had the girl really learned that technique already? Cursing himself for not interceding immediately, Neji threw himself forward, pushing the tiring Hinata to the ground. Using his forward momentum to add force to his spin, he called forth chakra. "Hakkesho Dai Kaiten!"

The resulting blue chakra wave enveloped both him and Hinata, who, hearing his announcement of the technique, had crouched close to his feet. Between rotations, Neji caught glimpses of Hanabi being blown back by the force of his counterattack, her planned blow falling uselessly against his shield. Increasing the power of his defense, he forced her back several more steps, gaining them ground.

Stopping the kaiten, he reached down, helping Hinata to her feet. "Everyone stay back!" He shouted. "I want infected individuals subdued and immobilized! Use any force necessary!"

"Th…they'd just returned from the spring." Hinata told him. Her cheek was already swelling into a nasty bruise. "I met Hanabi at the gate to help carry the water to sto…storage."

"She attacked immediately?" They both lowered themselves into more secure stances as the younger girl began advancing again.

"No…no, it was Ryuutaro." Hinata had named a man several years Neji's senior, a respected, talented advisor of the inner court. "I had noticed that s…several of them looked…off, b...but he was the first."

"They're infected." Neji could sense Hiashi approaching at a run, but doubted the leader would make it to the courtyard before Hanabi's next attack. "Do we know how?"

"I asked the…those women." Hinata nodded to the group Neji had identified earlier. A medical shinobi was with them now, assisting the more hysterical individuals. "They weren't sure. Said it…it might have been the river…"

The river? The logical conclusion was that the serum had been dispensed into the water at some point further up the Akame's current. Hanabi, Ryuutaro and the others must have been unfortunate enough to drink there this morning while on their trip to gather water for the compound. Neji's gaze fell on the full buckets scattered haphazardly about the grounds. "Someone empty those buckets." He directed, "No one is to drink or touch the water. Understand?"

How had the serum gotten into the water? And how had Shikamaru and his team missed it? Nara was no fool, Neji well knew, so for the evidence of his failure to be so blatantly obvious was testament that something had gone horribly wrong with the scouting team. Their primary goal had been to eliminate the serum from play and it was apparent that this had not been accomplished…

What had happened between them and the Cloud nin?

With a hoarse yell Hanabi launched into her next offensive maneuver, a strange combination of hakke kusho and elementary taijutsu that Neji had never seen her use before. "Fall back." He ordered Hinata, having her at his side would only hamper his movements. His younger cousin gave him a look and he answered the question hidden there. "You did well, now fall back." She complied, and Neji squared off with Hanabi.

The youngest daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi was considered by many to be a great beauty. Hinata, with her softer features, more closely resembled their mother, but Hanabi had inherited the finely chiseled bone structure of their father. Paired with the same pale complexion and dark hair seen in most of the clan, the visual effect was striking. At the moment however, the refined Hanabi so many admired had disappeared completely. Instead there existed a feral, untamed kunoichi, brimming with killing intent and the ability to fulfill said intention.

Neji had watched Hanabi closely since her graduation from the academy, recognizing as many others did, her natural aptitude for the Hyuuga arts. The girl showed a good deal of potential, possessing a serious, methodical nature that served her well in the mastery of advanced techniques. In her current state however, all mental reservations had been banished by the overload of testosterone.

Screaming, arms jabbing in a blur of aggression, Hanabi sprang forward.

Neji swerved behind her before she had a chance to change direction.

Whatever he did to subdue the girl, he reminded himself, she must not be killed. Though there were many within the Hyuuga clan labeled as dispensable, Hyuuga Hanabi was not one of them. Neji did not doubt that he would be called on to kill before the day was over, but under no circumstances would he start with this child.

He couldn't, honor demanded it to be so.

He would have to close her tenketsu.

Hanabi was already correcting her mistake, sweeping backwards with a low blow aimed at his legs. He avoided it with minimal difficulty. Hanabi might be good, but she was still young. Against the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan she stood little chance.

Breathing in through his nose, Neji forced outside distractions from the battles around him to fade away, his attention centered on his opponent. The stance came quickly. He exhaled.

"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho."

His first six hits landed with devastating accuracy, Hanabi offered no resistance whatsoever. However, as he reset his stance for the combination of eight, she feinted to the right, dropping low, out of his reach. Scrabbling in the dirt, she put distance between them, stumbling back to her feet.

He was surprised she could still move.

To avoid him at all was a feat in and of itself. He had to assume she was working on gut-instinct, the hormones strengthening and reinforcing the reactions which she would have normally suppressed with mental computations. It was no matter, with her primary six tenketsu blocked, it was only a question of time before she succumbed to the rest of his attack. Neji repositioned yet again, noting the arrival of his uncle in the courtyard. It was time to finish this.

What Hanabi did next caught the entire compound off-guard.

Arms hanging limply at her sides, dark hair in tangles past her shoulders, an unearthly yell tore itself from her throat. Through the byakugan Neji watched as quickly, much too quickly, the girl drew on all the remaining chakra left available to her. Her front foot slid back, marking the beginnings of kaiten, but instead of revolving on the spot, she leaped.

Her twisting body tore through the air like a bullet, ablaze with chakra. Sharp spears of energy, closely resembling those emitted by Hinata's Hakke Hyaku Nijuhachi Sho, flew out into the courtyard, felling several on-lookers. Aesthetically, the attack resembled the Inuzuka clan's Gatsuga, but Neji recognized it for what it was.

Hanabi had inadvertently developed a new jutsu.

The repercussions were something to be considered later. Neji crouched, considering how to perforate his cousin's deadly new defense. Two guards, rushing to Hiashi's side, were crippled by the out-of-control chakra blades. Hiashi seemed as dumbfounded as Neji felt, for how exactly did one counter such a move without causing great bodily harm to the user? Neji had already ruled out his usual repertoire, deciding correctly that any of his usual tactics would bring about the death of the girl.

It was an attack to be reckoned with.

He scanned Hanabi's spinning form once again, searching for a weakness. To wait for her to run out of chakra was the obvious choice, but how many more would be injured by her chakra blades? Preliminary analysis showed seven brought down by Hanabi's attack alone. At this rate, half the courtyard would suffer some sort of casualty before her energy drained completely. His eyes lit upon the only possibility and Neji moved.

Later it would be said that, even with byakugan, those watching were unable to track his progress, so swiftly did he move.

As it happened, Neji threw himself forward, parallel to the ground. Taking advantage of Hanabi's nearly non-existent periphery awareness, he slid beneath her until the cousins formed an almost perfect ninety degree angle with each other. Reaching up into the whirling maelstrom of chakra, he savagely gripped her ankles.

"Juken."

Byakugan had shown Neji that, as might be expected from a modified form of kaiten, Hanabi had failed to shield the soles of her feet.

Before the force of Hanabi's spin could throw him away, Neji sent two sharp streams of his own chakra into her circulatory system. Confident of success he released her and rolled out of the way. Even as he extracted himself, the whirlwind began to slow. A small flame of triumph sprang to life in his chest.

His plan was working.

The alien chakra he had forcefully inserted into her circulation began to break apart the attack. She rotated once, twice, lost consciousness, and began to fall. Hiashi was there immediately, catching his daughter before her head hit the ground. Neji stood back while the clan leader examined the girl, checking her vitals. Presently he nodded, looking up to meet Neji's gaze. "That was quick thinking."

"Not quick enough." The Hyuuga courtyard was in chaos. Guards had managed to subdue the other infected members, but not without losses. Neji counted a total of twelve injured, four dead. Among the deceased was Hyuuga Ryuutaro, the advisor who had been the first to attack, as well as young twin girls who had been assigned to the morning water crew.

Their parents had not yet been summoned to the scene.

"This should not have happened." Hiashi's hands shook with anger, even as he held the motionless body of his child. "Tsunade assured me, _promised_ me that the Nara boy would eradicate the serum. And what has happened? Death! Death in the Hyuuga house!"

"The poison was in the river." Neji told him, neither agreeing with, nor opposing his view. "Morning is breaking and more people will go to gather water."

Hiashi nodded. "Hanabi and the other infected persons must be transferred to the hospital, speak to the doctor and arrange it. I shall go to Tsunade." Neji nodded and took the still-limp form of his cousin from the leader of the Main house. In moments Hiashi and his emergency squadron were gone.

"How many are infected?" Neji asked Hinata as she came to stand beside him.

"Eight."

The number was higher than he had expected, excluding the dead Ryuutaro, hadn't there only been five afflicted individuals? Hinata was biting her lip.

"Dr. Iwao and…and two of the injured women." Neji's head shot up. Just as Hinata had said, beyond her the clan doctor was struggling against three larger men, all hard pressed to restrain him. The women had apparently been taken elsewhere.

"They were not initially affected." Neji muttered, "Iwao had no chance to come into contact with the water."

Hinata was worriedly examining her sister. "Do…do you think that…" Her eyes fell on the spot where Neji's bare hands gripped the child's shoulders.

"It could be spread through skin contact?" His mouth a grim line Neji erected a thin wall of chakra between his skin and Hanabi's. "We have to consider it." If the serum was indeed spread in such a fashion were he and Hiashi, not to forget the multiple shinobi who had fought in this courtyard, affected?

Neji wondered if he had been taken out of the fight before it had even begun.

"Take no chances." He said finally, "Gloves and masks, I want everyone who has had contact with the infected nin to proceed to the hospital immediately. Tsunade needs to examine us." Hinata gulped, but nodded. She was at risk as well, as were the majority of the most capable shinobi the Hyuuga clan had to offer.

So far, Neji was not feeling any ill-affects which led him to believe that skin to skin contact could not be the answer, the serum worked faster than that. They could take no chances however, he needed Tsunade to confirm his suspicions. Something had befallen Dr. Iwao and the women, the answer needed to be found.

Every second that passed was wasted until Neji could be sure he had not become a threat himself. Checking to make sure his orders were being carried out, he gathered his burden closer and ran for the surrounding wall. Jumping up, over, and towards the hospital, he ran, the cheerful rising sun an ironic choice for a harbinger of doom.

Around him, Konoha woke to face the new day.

* * *

Shikamaru was breathing hard, each inhale searing his lungs as the distant ground passed below his feet in a blur. The forest around him had started to look familiar several miles back. They were getting close. Not close enough though, he had known as sunrise crested the horizon that he had left the campsite too late.

The serum would reach Konoha before he did.

His only hope at this point was that either Tenten or Temari, both of whom had departed before him, had somehow managed to reach the village in time. Tenten was fast and a good distance runner to boot, well-trained by Gai in taijutsu, there was a chance she'd arrive before major disaster struck.

Temari was a sprinter, fast over a short distance but less dependable on a long haul such as this. She had her fan though, and the speed of the wind, with any luck, would assist her. If she could alert Gaara to the unfolding catastrophe then maybe, just maybe, the power of the kazekage would be enough to hold back the hormone addled population until Shikamaru got there.

The fact that this was his best plan revealed how horribly out of control things had gotten.

Feeling sweat trickle down the back of his neck, Shikamaru pushed himself to run faster. Why, he wondered, did he let down those closest to him when it mattered most? Memories of his first mission in command were streaming out from the place he'd suppressed them. The injured faces of his friends, at the time so young and confident they were invincible, appeared in his mind's eye. He shoved them aside, forced them from his musings, and they vanished, only to be replaced with an older, more wizened countenance.

Akuma sensei, cigarette firmly clamped between his spectral lips, hovered before Shikamaru, even as the boy tore through the trees, feet leaving behind destroyed bark and broken branches. "I avenged you." Shikamaru murmured, feeling an odd sort of anger rise deep inside him. "They're dead, I saw to it!"

The ghost of his teacher said nothing however, preferring to hover ominously just outside of his former student's direct sight-line. Shikamaru's breath hitched, caught in his throat before he forced it out with a strangled shout. "I _know_ I'm the knight, Asuma!" Below him, the first bend of the blasted river passed. There would be two more before he reached the gates. "I'm trying." He panted, wondering just how crazy he had to be to talk aloud in this manner. "I'm _trying_!"

His foot slipped and he plunged downward, saved only by a lucky grab with his flailing left hand. Groaning, Shikamaru hoisted his body up on top of the branch that he'd latched onto. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he would only cramp up if he continued on instantly, he rested his head on the rough bark. Gaara was not the only option, he thought hazily, they could evacuate non-essential citizens, leaving behind the higher ranked shinobi and kunoichi. As long as these nin avoided the hormones, they would be more than enough to defeat the approaching Cloud forces.

What to do about Naruto?

Shikamaru's initial instinct had been to send the boy far away, preferably in the company of Jiraiya or Kakashi. Neither of those men could be spared at this avenue however, and to send Naruto away made him more vulnerable to the motives of Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki. Shikamaru had long before determined the identity of the anonymous individual in Shino's report. Akatsuki were organized in pairs and it was common knowledge that Itachi and Kisame operated together.

Konoha could not allow Naruto to fall into their hands.

They had to keep Naruto in the village, but could Shikamaru manage to keep everyone alive?

He had to.

As he hauled himself back to his feet the one person he'd been avoiding thinking about most strenuously was suddenly, overwhelmingly, the only one that filled his mind. Shikamaru felt the headache coming on, a heightening pressure behind his eyes which threatened to send him back to his knees.

Ino.

Don't be dead, he begged silently, injured, missing, anything but dead. Sakura's outburst had expressed all which he couldn't bring himself to hope. Was there a chance Ino was still okay? It didn't seem possible. The odds were stacked too greatly against her. As resilient as she was, Shikamaru was well aware that his childhood friend could also break. It didn't happen often, but when it did, Ino was unable to hide it. Ino never tried to hide her emotions. She was a horrible actress in Shikamaru's opinion, much more effective at communication of the direct sort. It was both her strength and her weakness.

Shikamaru knew that with Tsukuyomi Uchiha Itachi could shatter her.

How would he explain this to Chouji? Once again Shikamaru began to run. Days of their early training flashed before his eyes, Asuma lecturing, Ino teasing, Chouji commiserating. Together they'd learned the ropes of shinobi life, together they had completed countless missions, saving each other more times than he could recall, together they'd gained revenge for the greatest wrong done to any of them.

Team Ten.

Now the team was broken. Asuma dead, Chouji alone in Konoha, Ino's fate hanging in the balance. And here he was, running between them, caught like a fly in a web. Suspended an equal distance from every person that meant anything to him.

And some cruel trick of fate dictated that he had to choose who to save.

If all three of them survived this, Shikamaru swore to whatever entity listened to shinobi, he would never allow Team Ten to become so divided again.

He passed the third bend in the river.

The gates would be less than a mile ahead. Pouring on the speed, Shikamaru allowed himself a moment of optimism. So far there was no sign of siege, no bodies lying on the ground. Perhaps Tenten had succeeded? If that was the case though, wouldn't there be an increased guard? The top of the walls came into view and Shikamaru jumped, flying towards the enclosed village that had misplaced so much trust in his debacle of a scouting mission.

The blow from above slammed him into the ground so hard Shikamaru momentarily lost consciousness.

When he came to, she was standing over him with the sneer he had once remarked was an odd cross between pity and disdain. A kunai raised above her head trembled in her grasp, ready to begin the downward plunge to his chest. As he struggled into a sitting position she took a step back, her breathing becoming harsh and disjointed.

The fact that they were friends made this whole situation all the more ludicrous.

"Te..Temari." He groaned. "What the _hell_?" Something wet trickled down his forehead. Blood. "The village." He managed, gingerly fingering the gash at his hairline. "Did you warn them? Where's Tenten?"

"I. Don't. Know." The sound of her voice, the grating fragments such a contrast to her usual measure tone, alerted him. Eyeing her warily, he swayed to his feet, one hand grabbed the two shuriken he kept in his back pocket.

"Temari?" Her eyes were dilated, he noted, and slowly he began to understand what had happened. "You were poisoned at the camp site." He said. "The wound on your arm, Sakura spotted it. It wasn't a pulled muscle was it?"

"Poisoned. Senbon." She forced out, and his eyes were drawn to the dried blood stain on her sleeve. "Resisted. Tried."

"Where is Tenten?" He asked again. "Konoha, have you warned Tsunade? Gaara?" Blood stained his vision, but he dared not wipe it away. Temari was teetering on the edge of control, it was a miracle she'd managed to keep the serum in check this long.

Shikamaru took stock. Temari was past the point where the estrogen injections he carried would do any good. It was essential he disarm her and get them both to Tsunade, but he was hardly in any shape to fight her at full power. She'd stunned him badly with the surprise attack, even now it was hard for him to consolidate his thoughts. He probably had a concussion. Somehow, even this long after being infected, she was holding herself back. She didn't want to hurt him, and for that he was grateful. He noted how her hand shook, it wouldn't be long now and she'd have no reserves left to fight the hormones.

Shikamaru urged his shadow forward.

"Sorry." She managed and he met her gaze. "Didn't. Think." Forcing his shadow to join with the surrounding pockets of shade, Shikamaru struggled to make sense of what she'd said. Was Temari sorry she'd been foolish enough to try to resist the serum? The girl was proud to the point of fool hardiness, it was true, but up until this point she'd never let her decisions harm those around her. Shikamaru admired her immensely for that.

He'd often wished he had the same talent.

"It's fine." He told her, the shadows were mere inches from her foot. "Tsunade can fix us both up and then we'll be ready to defend Konoha together, right?" The peal of bells from behind the gates made them both jump. At the sound of the archaic summoning system, Shikamaru almost smiled. Tenten had made it. Mind thus relieved, Shikamaru turned to his suffering friend with renewed urgency. "Hear that? Now we can…"

Temari plunged the kunai towards her own neck.

"No!" Shuriken flew from his fingers, one glancing off the blade, the other striking true, burying itself into the flesh between her pointer finger and thumb. Temari wavered but the kunai continued its inexorable arc.

"Let. Me." Her eyes were losing the last trace of sanity, desperation the last emotion. "Failed." A second kunai appeared, this one aimed for him.

Shikamaru punched her across the face.

Temari recoiled, a yell bubbling out as she lost command of her own body. Shikamaru winced as rough fingers grabbed his hair, a knee knocking the air out of him for the second time in ten minutes. Blood poured refreshed from his wound and then just as suddenly as it started…

All action ceased.

"Kagemane no Jutsu is a success." He uttered. Wearily he disentangled himself from Temari, staggering back, vaguely aware that her actions mirrored his own. He was shaken by the close call. The sight of the kunai plunging towards her neck replayed, what had she been thinking? She'd been trying to spare him her mistake, he knew, but in his mind it was poor justification. Hadn't he caused enough death already without Temari adding herself to his list? Shikamaru slumped over for a moment, getting his pain under control before standing back up to confront his captive.

"Why did you do that?" She was babbling wildly, the only action she could perform independently now. "You're a fool," He said, "for thinking I would let you kill yourself. And if that's what you thought I wanted you to do, you don't know…I'd never…it's the last thing I would _ever_ want." She couldn't comprehend him anymore, not in her current state, but he had to say it. Somehow, by saying the words out loud it made them seem more genuine.

He'd never meant to ask anyone to die for him.

He wondered if Ino knew that.

"Come on." Forcing Temari forward with his shadows, Shikamaru dragged his broken body to Konoha's main gate.

* * *

Ino was jarred from a restless sleep by Shino, who held his hand over her mouth to muffle her initial surprise. With predetermined hand movements he told her that Itachi and Kisame were closing in on their location once again. How long had she been asleep? Ten minutes? Twenty? The speed with which their adversaries were following was astonishing considering Shino and Ino's multiple attempts to foil them. Signaling her acquiescence so he would remove his hand, Ino struggled to her feet, careful to keep quiet. 

Fighting back the fatigue that seemed about to swallow her whole, she gave her chakra supply a quick scan. The short nap had helped, her energy levels were back to about half of their normal capacity. It wasn't great, but it would have to do. She doubted she'd get another chance to rest. So much for beauty sleep. After another nod to her comrade in arms, they separated, Ino to the left, Shino the right. Running to the overhang they'd scouted earlier, Ino began preparing for the next encounter, hoping this would be more effective than their last attempt.

They'd been engaged in a bizarre game of cat and mouse since shortly before dawn. Shino and Ino had taken to engaging the Akatsuki in short, intense ambushes in an attempt to slow down their progress and buy Konoha more time to prepare. After leaving Kumogakure Shino had all but ruled out direct confrontation, correctly determining that such a strategy was suicidal at best. They would serve Konoha best, he told Ino, by prolonging the Akatsuki's arrival as much as possible, which meant keeping themselves alive. The idea was to engage the enemy as often as was physically feasible.

Shino hadn't specified what he considered 'physical feasibility' but Ino had a sneaking suspicion his definition covered anything short of death.

And so they had been reduced to a sort of guerilla warfare, consisting of everything from well-timed weapons based ambushes to long-range attacks facilitated largely by Shino's kikai mushi. Some of the encounters were more successful than others, and very early on they'd realized that staying and fighting in a more traditional approach to battle was foolhardy. Even if they succeeded in avoiding Itachi's genjutsu, they had no good way to counter Kisame's devastating sword and water attacks.

It certainly didn't help that they had both been reduced to the limits of their endurance after nearly 24 hours of spying and evasion.

Now, the sun had risen just above the tree tops, morning had broken. Crouching low to the ground, Ino dug in the dirt, feeling her nails break and tear as she did so. Normally this would have been enough to send her into a fit for days, but at the moment the damage to her manicure barely even registered. She plunged three of her last kunai point-first into the shallow trench hoping desperately that this particular idea of hers would work. Eyeing the length of the shadows, she ceased digging and waited.

Presently, a small group of bugs flew to her, their presence giving her the green light to set her half of the attack into motion. Unfurling the ofuda she'd kept in her skirt pocket, Ino slapped one exploding tag on each kunai then sprang back, running towards more solid ground. Behind her they detonated, the shock wave throwing Ino forward onto her hands and knees. Ducking as dirt and stone showered her, she crawled forward, determined not to fall prey to her own trap.

The cliff which had so conveniently loomed over the main trail buckled under the force of the explosions. With a thunderous roar the land mass collapsed, a massive slide of dirt and trees obliterating the road below and, with any luck, taking their two opponents with it.

Ino held no illusions that it would kill them. At best this would bury them for awhile, giving Shino and Ino a chance to set up their next offensive.

Her strategy had consisted of Shino to use his bugs as a lure or prodding force in order to position Itachi and Kisame in the way of the landslide. Neither he nor Ino had been optimistic as to the gullibility of their opponents, but at this point they were running out of ideas and resources. Shino had estimated that they'd slowed the Akatsuki by an hour or so already, which was amazing if one considered how desperately out-matched their small spy team was.

Ino privately wondered why the Akatsuki bothered with them at all, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to evade Ino and Shino completely, would it? Shino and she were throwing a serious cog into the plans of these two criminals with their delaying tactics. Hadn't the men considered bypassing them in a show of strength and leave them to play catch-up all the way to Konoha?

It had occurred to Ino that perhaps Itachi felt he had some unfinished business with her.

This was a troubling thought, made more so because of the validity of the concept. Ino had faced off with the elder Uchiha and escaped relatively unscathed. She was also, perhaps, the only person in existence to experience Tsukuyomi without suffering any ill-effect. As such, she posed a threat to the power and reputation of Itachi's signature technique. For a kunoichi of her ranking to have uncovered a weakness in one of the most revered jutsu in existence was nothing short of astonishing. She now posed a significant hazard not only to Itachi's reputation but also to his dominance through fear.

Which was probably why he wanted to kill her.

Not stopping to check if the collapse of tons of dirt onto the roadside had had the desired effect, Ino sprinted away from her post, doing her best to leave a minimal trail. She was not overly concerned with her ability to conceal her passing. The Akatsuki could track them regardless of whether or not she left footprints. It was more a force of habit. Trembling with adrenaline, Ino arrived at the point where she and Shino had agreed to meet. Stopping in front of the young bamboo grove, she froze. Shino was not there.

In his place was a large puddle of blood.

Ino's mind blanked. "No." She backed up a few steps, horrified at her discovery. "Shino!?" A quick scan of her surroundings revealed no body. Instead, a small scarlet trail of blood drops trailed farther into the forest. He wasn't dead yet, Ino realized.

But if she didn't find him, he might be soon.

Steeling herself, she knelt, dipping one finger into the pool of crimson liquid. It was still warm, so he couldn't have gone far. Her medic training was kicking in, relaying statistics to her tired brain faster than she could sort through them. At this rate of blood loss, Shino had perhaps twenty minutes of life left. Not much, but enough. He had guarded her while she slept, carried her from Kumogakure in an effort that had undoubtedly saved her life.

It was time to return the favor.

Eyes trained on the gruesome trail Shino had left behind him, Ino sped through the bamboo forest. Shino and his opponent had left a wake of damage behind them, broken trees and scarred ground riddled the area. From the nature of the destruction that surrounded her, Ino was fairly certain it was Kisame who had ambushed her teammate. The damage patterns were consistent with the swing strokes of a large sword such as the one the blue-skinned man carried. The blade was serrated, similar to a shark's tooth and just as dangerous. Ino remembered the feel of it from her encounter through Miyuki and shuddered, her resolve strengthening. Kisame and his sword had taken one person from her already…

She'd be damned if she let him do it again.

A clearing was coming into view, the sight accompanied by the sounds of battle. Ino slowed her run, ducking behind a tree to get a sense of just what she was dealing with. Her breath caught in her throat, her senses narrowing into a tunnel-vision of sorts.

The Akatsuki had finally become tired of fighting through their diversions. It was apparent that they'd avoided the landslide entirely, instead detouring in favor of assailing the Aburame boy as he'd waited for her return. Uchiha Itachi was on the far side of the clearing using a monstrous black flame to keep Shino's insects at bay. Ino felt the heat on her face, its power evident even from this distance. Being even this close to the Uchiha made her stomach roll. Just remembering the horrors she'd observed in Tsukuyomi caused a cold sweat to break out on her forehead. Hoping that the bugs would keep the man occupied for just a while longer, Ino crept forward, trying to get closer to her partner.

Shino knelt in the grass, his right side a bloodied mess. He didn't seem able to move his arm or leg, his awkward sprawled position testament to the extent of his injuries. His trademark glasses lay broken on the ground, revealing his eyes, which Ino had never seen. They were a pale silver green color, and currently filled with hate as Shino stared defiantly at the tall man swaggering around him. The shark-man grinned down at the boy, pointy teeth gnashing against each other as his odd nasal voice filled the clearing.

"Guess it's the end for you. A nice fight you gave us with those bugs, but you could hardly have expected to defeat us. You're smarter than that, I imagine."

"Kill me, I don't care." Somehow, Shino managed a smirk. "Your plan is wrecked. We've robbed you of the advantage of surprise and now you're late. I wonder how well your lackeys will fair against Konoha without your backup."

"Think you're smart don't you?" Kisame sneered, beginning to swing his blade back and forth menacingly. "You will die and Konoha will still fall. You've utterly wasted your life by facing me here. After I'm done with you we'll find your annoying little friend and kill her too. Itachi's got special plans for that one thanks to the trick she pulled back in Kumogakure."

Oh, lovely. Ino was beyond thrilled she'd been singled out.

Shino didn't falter which was a considerable accomplishment since Ino was trembling at Kisame's words and she wasn't even _facing_ him. "You won't catch her, she's long gone. Do you honestly think she'd stay around to help me?" Ino bristled at his words, did he expect her to _abandon_ him to these killers? Who did he think she was? Shino was chakra sensitive so he had to know she was hidden out of sight, watching this take place. Was he ordering her to run?

The startling green eyes flickered from Kisame to her hiding spot and back.

"Enough talk." Kisame drawled. "You've caused enough trouble for me at this point and I'm sure that girl will be just as much of a pest, so I really must be going." He raised the sword, "I do hope you're not prone to blubbering and pathetic last words. I assure you I won't pass them along to anyone." Ino tensed, readying herself, she would only get one chance.

Shino spat into the dirt and Kisame laughed.

Taking advantage of Kisame's moment of levity, Ino dove forward, her hands held firmly together in a seal.

"Shinranshin no Jutsu!"

"Troublesome _brat_!" Kisame shrieked. Ino didn't doubt that if he had been in full control of his body he wouldn't have hesitated to cleave her in two, but as it was the great sword swung up and over Shino's head, missing the intended target and continuing on towards none other than Uchiha Itachi.

Shinranshin was working.

Itachi, still concentrating on destroying the kikai mushi was forced to duck out of the way as his fellow Akatsuki began to attack him instead of the boy they had been about to kill. Kisame brushed against the fires of Amaterasu as Ino's jutsu forced his body onward after his partner in crime and he screamed. Past his cursing, he shouted a jutsu and gallons of water spewed from his mouth, having little or no effect on the black fire. Itachi countered another blow from the blade, sharingan fully activated.

Safe for the moment, Ino dropped to her knees next to Shino. "Shino!" She breathed, taking in the deep lacerations up and down his side. "Can you walk?"

"No." Shino winced, "My body is going numb. Ino, you have to leave me."

"I won't." She replied fiercely, "You're coming with me Shino, so just shut the hell up about staying behind. I won't let you!" To maintain the effect of shinranshin, she had to keep her hands in the seal position. Though the jutsu was working splendidly, Kisame, unable to resist it, was keeping Itachi occupied with his unwilling attacks, it left her at a disadvantage since it required full use of her hands. This made healing Shino a tad difficult. She was no Tsunade after all. "I have to heal you." Ino told him, "Can you use any of the bugs to hold them off for a second?"

"The kikai mushi are mostly dead." Shino mumbled, his words beginning to slur. "Ino, hold shinranshin and leave for Konoha. I'm ordering you." She ignored him, desperately searching for something, _anything_ that could be used as a sling or sled. Was it possible to carry him without using her arms? Maybe if she buoyed him with chakra, but shinranshin was draining much of what she'd regained during her nap.

"Think!" She cried, "Damn it, think! There has to be something!" Her hands were trembling now and she had to focus to keep them from slipping out of the seal. "Can you climb on my back?"

Shino had slipped down onto the ground, his life ebbing away before her eyes. "Nara will be…mad…" He murmured. "Disobeying…orders…"

"Are you making a _joke_?!" She stared at him incredulously. "Shino, of all the times to gain a sense of humor, this is _not_ an appropriate one!" His eyes were closing and she screamed. "Shino!"

"Ino, _move_!"

A blur of pink, red and black filled her vision. Struggling to keep the shinranshin seal activated, Ino gaped. "Sakura?!" Her friend had taken quick stock of the situation and now laid both hands directly over Shino's chest. A bright blue blast of chakra lit both their faces and Shino gasped, his body arching off the ground. Stabilizing him, the medic nin began weaving threads of healing chakra across his entire body. "Sakura…how?" Her voice was half croak, half sob.

"I followed the bugs." Sakura said tersely. "Ino, how much longer will that jutsu hold?" She turned slightly, scrutinizing Ino where she sat in the dirt, taking in the blood stains, the battered hands. "You're injured? How badly?"

"I took care of the worst of it." Ino leaned forward into a crouch. "I'm running out of chakra though, I can only maintain shinranshin another two minutes."

"Okay then." Sakura dropped her hands and hoisted Shino roughly over one shoulder. "He'll be okay for now. Come on, we've got to run!"

"Don't think this is the last time you see us girl!" Ino heard Kisame scream across the clearing. "When I reach Konoha I'll find you!"

She turned to deliver a parting retort but thought better of it. There was nothing to say at this point. Still trapped in the throes of her jutsu, Kisame advanced on his fellow Akatsuki. Itachi looked largely unscathed from what Ino could see without risking falling to his genjutsu. Somehow, even without looking, she knew that Itachi's gaze was locked on her.

Taking one step backwards, then another, she left the clearing where she and Shino had so narrowly escaped death. Kisame's angry screams followed her out, but she didn't pause. Shinranshin was failing, she could feel it, and when it did she wanted to be long gone. Sakura, carrying Shino was at her side then, detonating exploding notes as they went. She must have placed these on her way into the clearing, Ino thought dazedly. "Thank you." She managed past threatening tears, "Thank you, Sakura."

"It's no less than what you've done for me." Sakura replied, and suddenly it seemed they were twelve again. Lost and terrified in the forest of death as Ino sprang out and shielded her best friend with her body. Ino managed a shaky smile, "Shikamaru?" She asked, "The others?" She felt shinranshin fail and glanced behind them worriedly. "They'll be coming after us now."

"Shikamaru and the team have gone back to Konoha." Sakura told her, mirroring her glance back. "We couldn't stop the serum. I'll cover our retreat, just focus on running." Ino nodded.

"Do you think we'll make it back?" She asked. Only now that she was out of the line of fire beginning to doubt the outcome of this whole, crazy mission.

"We have to." Sakura told her. "I made a promise to Shikamaru to bring you back Ino, and I never break my promises."

"Good thing too, huh Forehead Girl?" Ino grinned, remembering a myriad of other promises that had passed between them over the years. "Or else you'd still be a crybaby with no spine."

"Oh shut up, Ino." Sakura said, but she smiled. "Now do you want to get back to Konoha or not?"

"Right." Hearing a cry of distant anger, they dropped their banter and sprinted.

Little did they know that eyes belonging to someone other than their pursuers watched their flight through the trees.


End file.
